ME 1: The Dark Wings of a Black Sun
by Tharagon
Summary: An Old Memory sets a great deal in motion for Shepard and his caffeine addicted, sarcastic, argumentative crew. Things get extremely interesting as a run of the mill mission takes an unexpected and horrific turn. The Hyst are coming...
1. Prologue: Behold, a pale Horse

"Close your eyes…I want you to completely relax." Soft soothing words were the only noise in the warm space. All he could feel were the cool fingers resting on his forehead, the smooth thumbs resting on either temple. The room smelled of spice, the exotic fragrances flowing through the open windows weren't cloying however, but instead hinted of the alien world beyond these four walls. He could just hear the cranes calling over the thrum of passing flight craft as they passed through the green space of the Presidium. And the water, he could hear the murmur of voices out there, beyond the thick, white walls. Diplomats, traders and people, each murmuring in hushed tones, their feet making little noise on the marble and metal floor. Cafes were full of people, their conversation light and jovial. The Hanar speaker continued to murmur in the back of his head, its words full of a buzzing murmur. Several C-Sec officers talked in cold hard voices on the large bridge while a lone, Red armoured Krogan stood in the shadow of large statue of one of his race, calmly waiting, his weapons stowed and cold on his back. A quarian, a rare sight on the Presidium lent on a railing, watching the cars fly by, her face covered but the faint glimmer of eyes below were ever watchful. He could positively smell her, his sense were running free as the clinical but exotic scent flowed freely through his mind.

"I told you to empty your head of all other except the memory you wish to share. If I wanted to see mundane lives full of flickering flights of fancy and nothingness, I would just tap into my receptionist." The Asari who he lent against chided him, her knees and upper leg warm beneath the back of his head.

"Sorry." Shepard said, creasing his brow, allowing the calm relaxing thoughts come back. Time passed, the light never dimming, the birds never stopped calling and the water continued to flow. Below the consort's office, the men and women talked in hushed voices, occasionally raising their eyes to the ceiling and letting their minds guess at what was occurring within that scented room.

"Do you want to remember, Commander?"

"Yes."

"Do you want my mind to become with yours so that I may see this thing which burdens your soul."

"Yes." That was uttered with a little more force.

"I want you…" white spots began to run across the Commander's vision as the fingers pinched at the flesh of his face "…to show me…Everything"

"….Everything?"

"Yes."

"You mean that figuratively, right?"

Everything went white and all Shepard felt was weightlessness. It was quite a pleasant feeling; the vast nothingness around him was a white light but it wasn't blinding, it was empty, was the best way to describe it. He didn't feel afraid; he didn't feel upset or saddened by all this He felt…well. He didn't feel anything. He felt Numb.

"Shepard."

"Yes"

"Shepard…" the voice was all around him, in his mind and his body as he tried to focus, his consciousness trying to break from his grasp. He could feel things tight around him, pulling his arms to his sides. He could still move them, but it felt confined, restricted perhaps. Encased….that was it. This seemed all too familiar. The smells of the presidium were gone, replaced instead by a biting cold, the air coming stale and recycled.

"Shepard!"

"What…?" This didn't feel right; something was resting on his shoulders, his body felt heavy. There was something surrounding his head, a thick solid object which closed around his jaw and was pulled tight over his ears.

"Wake up you Daft Twat!!" Shepard's eyes snapped open as the voice crackled over the internal speakers. Before him, consoles twinkled. They were basic admittedly only minor holographics but he doubted the Pod would be coming back from its one way trip so he doubted the Alliance minded. It was a tight fit; he was well tied into his chair forcing him into a nearly upright position, the standard Alliance Issue Mass Rifle digging into his elbow each time he tried to move. Out the reinforced glass door of the pod, the ship's exterior curved away above him, a mass twinkling lights and pylons. Other Drop Pods hung from glittering cradles as below the storm wracked world of Altema 7 rolled by, the hurricanes and dust storms leaving clear trails across its surface.

"And finally the sleep beauty himself awakes. C'mon Sarge' we don't want you to miss all the action."

"Kiss my Arse, Charlie." Shepard cracked his neck and slammed his fist into the side of his pod. The thing swayed under the jolt, the harness holding firm as beside him, just visible through the reinforced glass, Corporal Charlie Mason waved back, his bearded face split by his white, well cleaned teeth as he grinned. "…with the amount of time we've been hanging, I've got to do something more then stare at your face."

"But ain't it a picture, Sarge."

"No it fegging ain't…" Shepard grimaced as he sat back in his seat, trying to straighten his legs "…slap a nice body on ye', remove that ugly mug perhaps. In fact, I'd swap you for the real set any day. That would make my view more pleasant."

"Been eyeing up the Asari again 'ave we, Sarge. I'd of thought you'd of swung one of those Biotics our way by now."

"All a matter of time, Corporal…" A pod a few pods down swayed slightly, a helmeted head appearing in the quickly frosting glass. "…for know I wish they'd just fix the bleeding heating in ole' Betty."

"You still naming your Pods, Frank."

Behind the frosted glass and armoured face plate, Frank Jeffries face creased into a smile.

"I've got to give each Pale Horse a name, it just seems fittin'"

"I dunno…" Charlie flexed his arms, flinching as he banged his elbow against a jutting arm rest "…D'ravit!! I just don't want to get too attached to the thing before it gets scattered across the ground. Just seems a bit pointless to me, you barely get to know the thing."

"But they have soul, and personality."

There was silence, the Shepard and Mason both leaning forward in their seats to get a clear view of Frank.

"You've been staring into dark spaces for way to long Corporal Jeffries." Shepard said.

"Giving it a Fegging Name…" Charlie rubbed at his sore elbow, shaking his head at his elder "…it's just a quick drop then a sudden stop. That's it, not really time to get acquainted if you ask me. Its like a finely balanced ice cube or a rather ugly, burnt piece of glass, it falls, it smashes, we fall out."

"It's not as if you're going to buy it lunch or anything…" Shepard murmured.

"…take it to a hotel…"

"…get drunk…"

"…spend a rampant…"

"Alright, alright! You've 'ad your fun." Frank sat back, disappearing from view.

"And if you feel that way in kind and don't believe it's working out…"

"I'm going to fegging blather you in a minute…"

"…I'm sure if another pod isn't available, there's plenty of packing crates or ammo crates on offer."

Expletives echoed across all comm. lines, the static clearly audible as Frank lent to close to the Intercom panel, Charlie chortling away as the older man screamed down the line back at him.

"Sergeant Shepard!" Another, younger voice cut through the others. From one of the nearby pods, a visor caught the light as it occupant inched forward, trying to make the pod swing as little as possible, lest he threw up. The youthful face behind the clear visor wide eyed and pale, Private Elliot being the youngest soldier Shepard had ever served with. It seemed quite likely that he'd lied about his age and the Alliance wouldn't have checked. They were too busy trying to stay ahead of the Alien races, let alone focus their attention on the well being of the troops. In a bid to accelerate the growth of the Alliance Military Forces, Command seemed to have lost sight of the little people, those who made up the numerous forces.

And those who were hanging above a vast warzone under that dark sky.

"Is it time yet!?"

"Give it a little longer, Kiddo…" Shepard said, smiling grimly from behind his own visor. "…don't get too impatient to get dumped into hell, rook."

"Its James, Sir! My name, Sir…James Elliot!"

"Its Private Elliot, Rook." Shepard grimaced as he snarled over the intercom. "…you're rook until you've come back from one jump. For now, you're a number, that's all. Friendship is for people who come back."

"Yes….sir."

"Good…" he said, Charlie shaking his head from his own pod. "…you come back, Rook and then we'll be on first name terms."

"Understood…" there was a brief pause. "…but Sarge!?"

"What is it, Rook?"

"Why do they call us the Gallowmen?"

Shepard sighed into his breathing mask, the glass fogging.

"Because we drop…"

"…and come to a sudden stop." Charlie broke through the static.

"And some of us don't come back..." Frank murmured just on the verges of Shepard's hearing.

"Do you think we'll all come back, Sarge?"

There was a pause as the others looked at each through the thick glass.

"We always come back, Rook."

"Bullying the Newbies again, Shepard?" Moira Stuart's sharp tones filtered into Shepard's hearing as the squad medic's pod twirled in space, its occupant moving in her seat.

"Just got to keep them on their toes, Stuart."

"You'd better not start laying into him as you usually do, Sarge."

"Yes Mum." The disembodied voice of Moira floated back from her pod as she replied and sent the intercom crackling. It involved swear words.

"So how many jumps have you done so far, Sarge?" The rook was back, leaning from his seat to look through the portal to Shepard's own pod. He lent back, breathing deeply as he tried to think.

"This would be the Sarge's 45th I would believe…" Charlie spoke up from his pod as Frank nodded sagely from his own. "…I'm on 35, Frank's on…"

"…I'm on 50, youngling." Frank folded his arms.

"One day that luck'll run out old man."

"Hopefully you won't be around to see it, boy." Frank chuckled as he set his chin back into his chest, trying to catching a glimpse of the world below. Within his pod, pictures of family and friends looked on with smiling faces as the fifty five year old Drop Trooper, set his jaw, eyes twinkling in the star light and looked down as ever to his next fight, his next war and perhaps…

It would certainly solve the issue of retirement. It wasn't as if his pension was overly generous and it would just seem so boring. Shepard and Charlie had their lives ahead of them, he had…well, a quick drop and a sudden stop.

Charlie looked on from his own pod, his beard tucked away into his helmet as the group sunk into silence. There'd been more, much more. But they were all gone, gone into dust, blood or paperwork. Simple numbers now in some vast overbearing army. A machine. The alliance always hinted to the fact that they could only operate in small squads, their limited Navy meant that they had little choice on the matter. But now, it was all about man power, to become numbers while Command sat around and discussed politics.

He ground his teeth. He really hated politicians.

Time passed, Shepard checking his gun by his side as the storms continued to roll by below. A wrecked ship passed by beneath them, its engine cores sparking as ruptured metal sent a drifting debris field trailing behind it like some slow comet. No one said anything, just an awed hush spread across the comm. network. It was clear to see the Alliance markings spread across its ruptured hull as blue fire erupted from the drive coils. It passed by, leaving nothing but empty space. No sign of its passing existed, it just had been…and now it was gone. Shepard strained at his harness, trying to catch some last glimpse of the wreck, but it was gone from view, to forever orbit the planet till it would eventually come to rest.

At some point, somewhere, something was going down. Shepard folded his arms and looked on as around him, other soldiers shifted in their pods, deep in conversation or in prayer, their thoughts going to a bored and uninterested god.

"Sarge…" Mason lent back in his chair, his breath sparkling in the cold air "…what are we doing in this little part of the Galaxy?"

"Well, it all began with a few raids by Pirates onto this sector. A few menial little excuses for attacks from the terminus systems. Big hoohaa about whose job it was to clear up the mess so the colonists armed themselves and fought off the pisspoor excuses for raiding parties themselves while the council bickered and complained. Thankfully the colony was rather sizeable, nearing the size of one of the Citadel's own habitation areas so the local militia held their own for some time. But then out of the Black came a whole load of Hell. It seemed that the Pirates had become a little distressed by the resistance they were facing and dropped a shitload of ordinance down onto the planet. Recon says it was chaos from that point as the Slavers, Pirates, Marauders, Raiders and god knows what else descended down onto the planet and mopped up the last of the civilians who dared put up a fight."

"Feg."

"The council got a little shifty at this point and decided it would be worth having a little squint to see what was going on. Basically, our friends from the terminus systems decided to use the ruins as a staging post and in that fact pose a direct threat to citadel space. So the council called in a task force, i.e. us, a few Asari and the Turians."

"This makes the Alliance seem as though we're callaberating with each other which in turn, makes us look good."

"That would be 'them', Sarge." Charlie murmured over the intercom.

"Sorry, it makes them look good as they gloss over the mission, the death toll, enemy death toll, yadda yadda."

"Usual story then." Frank flexed his tired muscles in his pod, Charlie groaning as Shepard finished speaking.

"So it's the usual Drill, we drop, we land. There's a main thoroughfare marked here and here" A rotating holographic image flickered into life each of the pods, Shepard highlighting each section of the tiny orange glowing 3d image. Streets rippled under his fingers, buildings breaking up from the image as it rotated slowly above the projector.

"As soon as we hit ground, I need a RV point set up just here…" there was fizz and a single golden sigil began to twirl over a large complex "…that's an old shopping arcade. It's pretty clear of tangos at this moment in time. It was pretty badly hit by the first bombing run and several buried gas and power mains in this area means that pirates are giving it a wide berth."

"Gas mains, great." At least we've been given snowblind rounds for this drop." Mason murmured as Moira tutted, semi agreeing with plan as Shepard ran a quick diagnostic.

"I guess the other squads are coming down all over the shop?"

"Most have the RV points set by top brass. We've been given a little more Leeway…" Shepard stirred the image with one finger. "…however the main objective is right here." He tapped a wide open space set at the centre of the urban area.

"A space port?"

"That's where their ships are docked and that's where they're operating from. We hit that area hard and we're in the monies. If not, then the Alliance will waste this place from Orbit."

"Why the hell don't we do that right now instead of been stuck here?"

"Because there are civilians…" Moria rattled the intercom box, obviously going through her medikits "…they've been bringing in lots of slaves and seeing the lack of willing buyers out here, I'll put money on the fact that their using them as a shield against us."

"All right, I bet against…" Charlie rattled from his pod.

"Done, I call five credits on that."

There was another brief rattle. Shepard came acutely aware of money changing hands.

"Your bets are getting worse every time. That one was positively ghoulish."

"Gallows humour, sarge. Best way to make money."

Their conversation was cut short as a long rumbling judder echoed through the pods. Sirens began to call as the ship began to roll, its beacons rising up as it wings peeled back.

"Here we go…" Shepard pulled his harnesses tight as the judder increased in rhythm, his gloves locking around the two hands on either side of his seat. Above his heads the engines whined as around him, other pods were been lowered into position. "…remember, remain calm, don't panic, the ground will come up a bit fast…"

"Feg yes it will." Charlie yelled over the rumble of engines as blue fire began to ripple from beneath all the pods held in position across the flat surface of the ship's belly.

"This is Squad 1 ready." Voices began to sound over the comm. link, some fearful, some ready, some angry and some….were quiet and restricted.

"This is Squad 2."

"Squad 3."

"This is Squad 4…" a strong irish accent sounded through "…an may I just add, what a fine day it is to be goin' down there to whip some arse for Ulster!"

"Squad 5 here."

"Squad 6…" Shepard intoned "…are we all good to go?"

"Fired up and ready." Charlie murmured as Frank ground his teeth and tightened his grip.

"Ready S-s-sarge"

"Ground teams are been deployed as we speak." The rough tones of the squads were replaced by a hard, crisp female voice of the command centre "…Asari Biotics are been dropped imminently."

Fluted wisps' of light whipped past the edge of the ship as she spoke, heading directly for the storm wracked world below. Ships too, moving in quick succession shot down into the clouds and were lost from sight.

"There go the Asari…" Frank shouted over the rumbling engines as more and more pods were lowered into position "… and the turians are going down in ships. Looks as if we're the only ones jumping the gallows then!"

"This is Zero 5. I have confirmation of targets rising into orbit." The nose of a small white frigate rose into view, Zero 5s Captain quickly pulling from the drop zone in a cloud of blue fire.

"We read you Zero 5…" the crisp tones echoed again "…good hunting."

"Understood Command. Ground teams, things are going to get loud."

"555, Zero 5" Shepard sank further back into his seat, lest the gravity drop would tear his legs from his joints as other squad leaders replied.

"This is Zero 7, we've got increased wind-speed on ground level."

"Positive on that one Zero 7?" Shepard opened a channel as Command whistled and clicked, the V.I system whirring to itself as the Pods began to deploy.

"That's a positive, recommend a pause on Jump."

"That'd better be a negative on that one Zero 7." Shepard swore as like buds breaking from branches, the pods burst away from their cradles, blasting away into empty space and shrieking down toward the surface.

"Command, we've got a negative on drop. Please Advise?"

Static hissed, empty of all human voices.

"Command?! Command?!" Shepard slammed a fist into his arm rest.

"The powers that be, ain't listening…" Mason ran his hand over one wall of consoles.

Space came roaring up around him as the pods were blasted from their cradles. All they could feel was the rattle of the orbital winds and shriek of the engine reverberating through the pods.

"Weather conditions are FUBAR! Squad Leaders, prepare for Insane storm conditions!!"

"That's a positive ID on that weather…" a strained voice echoed through the intercom as Shepard's pod hit the atmosphere in a blast of fire "…taking action."

"Good to hear from you Benny!"

"It'll take more then a bit of rain to get rid of me, Shepard" there was a laugh on the other end of the line.

"Height, 1000,000 feet and counting…." Moira's voice cut through Benny's jovial remarks "…hitting second atmospheric layer now!"

The pods jolted as behind, more black dots followed, ejected from the single, white clad Alliance vessel, and behind that, clad in silver carapace and twinkling with many orange lights, the Destiny of Ascension hung ready.

"Firing first jets…" Shepard felt gravity slam down before it was gone, the pod smashing through the atmosphere. Fire ran freely along the windows and black metal of the pod.

"Jets firing…" Charlie's dull tones sounded through the static "…damn, this feels GREAT!!!"

"Hold the enthusiasm soldier. You'll need that when we get down there!!"

"Never grows fegging old!" Frank was yelling over the screaming jets as sound and gravity kicked in.

"This is Team 1, we've landed and deployed, no sight….wait, we've got tangos."

"Good hunting, One" Shepard snapped his head back as the pod increased in speed, pressing him back into his seat.

"Squad 2, ground level. Feg, we've got foxtrots all over, engaging."

"Don't you die on me Gunney…" Shepard slammed back into his chair as they hit the jetstream "…you still owe me that drink."

"Don't you worry your little cotton socks on the issue." His voice disappeared in the noise of battle before cutting off abruptly. Shepard ground his jaw.

"We've got heavy winds on the jet stream…" Moira was barely audible over the winds and the rattle of the engines "…I'm seeing metrological spikes all over the board."

Shepard felt himself go cold. "Can you pinpoint the spikes in wind speed?"

"We're heading toward one right now Sarge!"

"Alter trajectory, 15º on my mark…" the others fizzled in agreement "…our LZs have been compromised. Wind speed….increasing."

"This is Zero 7…" the ship captain came back online as Shepard wrenched a handle to 'on' position on the console "…Squad 6, you're heading toward a Storm Cycle, suggest altering course."

"Already on it, Zero 7."

"Things are going FUBAR as the weather's concerned. And you've got a shitstorm of trouble beyond it."

"Deploy chutes…" large crystalline canopies broke from the engine compartments and spread black plastic and metal into the winds. They hit the cloud layer with a shriek, the rockets firing to slow the pods. Shepard could feel the slightest of tugs as the wind caught the pod. "…change trajectory…now!"

The pod jerked to one side, the others' following suit. The storm reared about them like a vast thing, the winds sculpting it into new, horrific shapes as the clouds swiped at the passing pods.

"This is squad 3, we're down, taking heavy fire, requesting assistance!"

"Understood Squad 3, do what you can for now."

"No we're frigging not…" Charlie muttered over the winds.

"500,000…."

There was a jolt as the parachutes detached and disappeared into the cloud. And then they were through, through the clouds and through the storms. Winds plucked at the windows and sent the pod twirling; Shepard felt his stomach lurch, the pod slamming him hard into the walls, consoles coming loose.

"D'ravit!!"

"You all right, Sarge!!!!?"

"Fine…!!" Shepard snapped the sunscreen down over his face, hiding his cold grey eyes before pulling the flak shield down over the Perspex visor, the shield hissing as the servo motors drove it back into place. It was thick piece of black carapace, broken only by a thin clear slit which spread from eye to eye across the its matt black surface. "...fegging piece of standard issue shite"

Below, the city burned, vast plumes of smoke rising from burning tracts of industrial areas. Barbed and rusting ships hung above the fire, spines adorning the outside of the flight craft which hung like devils above the fields of hell, their cargo bays open as large cylindrical cages were winched up into their holds. People cried from inside the cages, pale arms clawing from within as they tried to escape. And there were firefights, muzzle flares rippling through the city streets, the tiny flashes of blue and white light. And there were rounds in the air, the flick and snap of passing shards breaking through the rumbling engines. And then it seemed to all go silent as a small mushroom cloud engulfed a street several thousand metres away, lights flickering within before it was gone, torn away into the winds. Noise rushed back in as the atomic blast gave way.

"Woo…!!" Charlie exclaimed "…they've deployed Atticus Cannons!!"

"Eyes on the prize soldiers, don't get distracted by all the new toys."

Marauders and Pirates ran through the streets below, the smoke mixing with the clouds and mixing the sky a muddy red. Asari, Turians, Salarians, Batarians and humans all looked up as the pods descended like comets from the red sky. In mismatched armour, they stood and shook their fists at the sky. He could see their faces, small angry and cruel specks below.

"Wind speed increasing!!"

"Brace!!!" Shepard shouted over the screaming engines as the brakes engaged. "Brace for Impact!!"

And then the pods seemed terribly far away…Shepard's world was turned upside down as the pod tumbled away as the cross winds smashed the pods off course.

"We're off course….!" Charlie could be heard yelling as he spiralled out of control. "…the winds got us off course! Shepard!! What…._crrrrrk_…..do…….Sar………._Crrk_"

Shepard seized the jump handles on either side of the portal, the g-force pressing him back in his seat as the pod began to whirl, brakes engulfing the underside of the craft as they desperately tried to slow him down. He hit one of the black plumes of smoke and increased speed, the buildings whipping by underneath as streets, ruins and fire shot by beneath, and then…

"Badbadbadbadbadbadbadbad…." Shepard slammed his head back into the seat, the engines rising in pitch "……!!!!!!!" he slapped the intercom box, trying to get some response for the blank expanse of silver metal "…Mayday, Mayday, this is Squad 6 lead, we're going down and off course. This is a mayday, can anyone, anybody please advise…." Silence was a rather annoying response to his predicament. "…this is mayday, mayday. Is anyone, anybody…please respond. This is Sergeant Andrew Shepard, of the Systems Alliance; I'm going down off course. Is anyone in this area?"

"You are about to experience a crash…" the VI system's smooth voice was the only other noise in the space, his only reply and rang annoyingly in Shepard's ears "…please brace for impact. Insufficient data on target landing area for reconciliation. Prepare for Blind Landing."

"Yeah, ye' talking but it ain't helping!!!" He broke a small glass panel beneath his chair.

"You have activated the Loud Handle…" The VI's calm tone seemed much too relaxed for his liking "…are you sure you wish to follow through with your action?"

He didn't answer, the lever below jumping up into his grip he wrenched the handle upward. A second chute deployed, Shepard felt as if his shoulders had been ripped from his shoulders, the wide black emergency chute's metal fibres dragging the pod backwards. This caused him to bounce painfully off the roof of the pod the resulting force tipping him forward into the glass. That nearly shattered the glass, his face plate holding for now. Dazed, he watched the ground coming up to greet him with burning, but open arms. And through his head, the only word he could hear, just before the black came to drag him back. It wasn't said, it wasn't screamed, it wasn't the name of some loved one, it wasn't some regret, it just suited the situation well. It was the only two words Shepard could summon up as the pod decided it wanted to dig a deep trench out of the planet's surface and was dragging him along with it.

"Aww Bugger."


	2. Prologue: Song of the AODTs

As the demon sleeps man turns on man  
His blood and madness soon cover the earth  
From the depths of despair awaken the Ravens.  
We will drop on raven wings ablaze in majestic light

* * *

Drop pods are specifically designed to be comfortable in the worse conditions. It was either that or has every single bone broken in your body over an excruciating ten minutes. But training usually involve been blasted round a room in a specially designed pod till your skin was dragged so far back across your head, plastic surgery was out of the question for several years. Shepard, in all his life, still didn't get wrinkles. And then crawling through cargo nets and mud, been beasted by several burly soldiers till your feet bled and the rain had permeated every single surface of your body while the Highlands' of Scotland echoed with the threats and the shouts of the drill sergeants. It had been hell, but it had helped. Nothing else could have readied him for the bone crushing agony and the hell he and his men always fell into.

Especially for this. Shepard stared gamely at the single console which hung by a single thread from the door, swinging before his face, its wires sparking as contents were scattered over the floor. Which would be the ceiling, Shepard could feel the blood rushing to his head, the harness holding him in place as the contents of his pod gathered on the floor/ceiling in a blackened scorched pile. It was smoking, rather amusingly, the adrenaline was still causing the blood to run through his ears, his hearing pounding with each heartbeat and that made the high he was currently on even stronger. He began to laugh, the sound of rain drumming on the sides of the pod as the fallout from the storm sent heavy rain running through the streets. Water gurgled in the drains and dropped from ruined buildings, rivulets sending glittering trails across fallen walls and dead bodies that lay amongst them. Broken iron stuck from fallen pillars, the streets full of rubble and water as empty houses glared out onto the dead city.

Night had come quickly to the colony, stealing across the horizon as the single blue sun disappeared into the barbed cliffs which bordered the sides of the colony and the moons, all three of them glared down. The moonlight illuminated the walls of the pod, the Mass Rifle picked out in slivery threads as the matt black of the rifle was broken up with silvery stripes, past scars from old battles which he'd had little time to repair.

The pods weren't really supposed to be upside down, another great lack of foresight by the alliance. Sadly this lack of foresight carried to most pieces of equipment bearing the legend 'Standard Issue'. From past experience, said items either worked, exploded or combusted in a variety of amusing fashions, like Drop Pods for example, which were only supposed to be 'one way up'. An issue the original designers failed to iron out and the soldiers still continued to find the flaws as they smashed down onto the planets' surfaces…..

….usually on fire.

"Pod Compromised. Ground detected but trajectory locks have………ffffzzzzzzzaiiiiiled. Emergency release initiated…" the internal VI chimed. It was defiantly on its last legs, he could hear the fizzle of static as it spoke as the hard drives packed up, there was defiantly no article on the VIs dictionary which involved the word 'ffffzzzzzzaiiiiiiiled', the pod's main power source starting to vent a slight white mist beneath his seat. "…please stand clear of the doors while the hatch is released…" there was a sudden drop in tone as the VI slowed down, the last of the internal battery beginning to give out "…remember, being too close to the release bolts when they fire may lead to a quick and sudden death. I hope your trip has been comfortable…Have a nice day." And with that, the lights went out and the smell of burning metal began to invade the enclosed space.

The explosives blew the door off in a cloud of smoke and fire, the door smashing into a nearby wall, the glass shattering as it impacted against the concrete. Shepard sighed, the buckles failing to give way as several warning lights fizzed and flickered in the moonlight, obviously some vestiges of power remained. Rain filled air filled his lungs, the stale air of the interior of the pod rushing out as the compressed air within the pod blew out. Shepard took a deep breath, the air fogging as he breathed out.

The harness gave way with click, dumping the drop trooper into an ungainly pile at the base of the pod. Shepard pulled away, groaning as he pulled himself clear, the wet mud and gravel sinking through his fingers as he met the wet earth beyond the pod's interior. Rain dribbled down the flak shielding around his helm as he rose to his feet, cracking his neck and straightening his back. Nothing moved; the street was a ruptured ruin. A long trench still steamed in the heavy rain where the drop pod had skidded to a halt. His 'pale horse' was still on fire, the brake jets were still a glowing red and steamed as the rain landed on their metal surfaces. It seemed quite beautiful, the moons casting the rain drops into glimmering diamonds, their patterns leaving sparkles across the walls as water ran down his armour, his shape a single black silhouette amongst the rain and cold air.

He took a few paces back, leaning into the dark shadow of his pod. The gun came out grudgingly, the stocky square muzzle snapping back into his shoulder as he pressed the priming stud. The gun whined as he slotted it into position on his back. His armour was matt black, ceramic plates covering a thick, black underskin. He'd never been one for heavy armour, but then he'd never been one for running round in a under skin either so the Medium armour suits suited him well. The Alliance standard issue suit he wore was scratched and dented, most of his ceramic plating and alloys which made up the interlocking segments of his torso were covered with either scratches or chemical burns.

But it was his, his suit, his helmet, his gun. It was all his and it meant a great deal to him. Rust was character, scratches added the feeling of friendship, chemical burns were like old friends. He knew every single hole, scratch and burn across its surface and it made him feel good to carry it. And that was because Shepard loved machines. From a small child living on the star-ships to watching worlds burn as pirates and marauders swooped down to decimate the Alliance forces; machines, engines, ships, vehicles and weaponry had always fascinated him. He was an engineer, as had his father been and his mother, and his Grandfather. Oil ran in the blood, as his parents had always told him, Oil…and element zero. Not saying he was a biotic or anything, but his father had always had a great affinity to the Element, the engines ran on it and the maths, the pure science which was involved in its usage played very well with Commander Henry Shepard. He was the expert in that field and up to the day he died, no one came close to besting him.

Which was quite a legacy for Andrew Shepard to keep up with. There was so much expectation and his mother had been so proud when he joined the Alliance. This didn't last however. Engine Rooms and Starships were not Shepard's home in his view. His home was screaming down from Orbit at hundreds of miles an hour to some god forsaken hellhole to bring a whole load of pain onto some poor souls head. And that was that, Shepard, the engineer became Shepard, the soldier.

His father said that choice was what killed his mother, that she'd died of regret and worry, because of the shame of his choice. But Shepard knew better, it had the been the dodgy sprocket 12b on Engineering level five of the 'Penitent Tangent' which had spread his mother's head across the walls. And for now, Shepard doubted that was anything to do with shame, more poor maintenance. But his father hadn't talked to him since…

Shepard took a long hard look at the sky. Nothing moved up in the clouds. Most of the ships, and this was a guess, would probably be up there, engaging the Asari, Turian and Alliance vessels which hung in orbit. It was very, very quiet. No gun shots or the rumble of gunfire or the blast of explosives echoed through the streets, just the constant gurgle of running water. Too quiet….

He snapped a finger to the side of his helmet, activating the comm. system.

"This is zero one niner…broadcasting on all frequencies, anyone, anybody, please respond, anyone, any friendlies in this area?" Nothing, static was his only listener. He twirled his finger, opening up another channel.

"This is Systems Alliance Drop Trooper Sergeant Andrew Shepard. Anyone, anything…" he added, as the crystal clear Alien Commlink ran perfectly and smoothly "…please respond, I am down and in need of assistance."

Nothing…Shepard coughed into his mask, blood splattered across the inside of the visor as he bent double, retching into the black rebreather. Two broken ribs, punctured lung, he could feel it grinding beneath his armour. This did not make the mask smell nice, and for now, he was smeared with blood, and would probably look like some cannibal when he finally removed the mask. Not that Aesthetic value of his face wasn't really mattered anyway. There were no scantily clad women welcoming him back onto the Ships after a long mission, just tired, scared and wounded men who lay across the benches of the landing crafts like leaves scattered to the winds. Like they'd just been, scattered and blown across the planet's surface. Once again the Alliance had screwed up, failing to work out the windspeeds before dumping the soldiers down onto the battlefield; it had just been a rush to get there before the Turians and the Asari. And they'd paid dearly for it. A lot of men must of lost their lives for the Alliances mistakes.

"Sergeant Andrew Shhhh…" a voice, incredibly faint and defiantly female suddenly broke through on the comm. link "…help me."

"State your name, Serial number and….Where the hell are you?!" Shepard's navigation system chimed as a beacon activated a klick away from his position. Several streets lay in his way. Far too open for his liking, even if they took less time. There was however, highlighted on his map, several back alleys which ran alongside the main roads. He opted for that, been shot wasn't really the best option. "My name is Malara…." She was back, a murmur on the commlinks "…I'm part of a commando unit, serial number 223167."

"As long as you're on my side that's all I needed to know." Shepard said, digging a large plastic covered backpack from the remains of his drop pod. He strapped it to his back, several wires feeding up into his helmet, his HUD becoming more detailed as the battery retained within the pack began to pour power into his helm. And, as an after thought, he pulled a large disk shaped object from a side locker. It was a thick four inch thick slab of metal with a domed lump held within. He slotted it onto his back, taking the gun in gloved hands.

"Hang on, I'm coming to get you, soldier."

"Please….hurry. I doubt I will last much longer here."

It sounded like a trap and most of Shepard's senses screamed 'Trap!!!' But it was a risk he had to take, for now. Been alone in an enemy infested city was not a good choice of career, but lingering here was also not a good idea too. He couldn't do this on his own and if this was the only radio signal he could find, then damn, he had to go look for it. Not that he was a damsel rescuing type. Knight in shining white armour never truly matched Shepard's view of himself and the ruthless streak he'd inherited from his father never would allow such a thought to take root. Rain continued to fall as he sprinted away from the pod, leaving it to its grave amongst the silent city streets. There was the briefest feeling of loss as he left its matt black surface in the pouring rain, but it soon passed, replaced by the feeling of drive usually associated with such missions.

Within the abandoned pod, a single scrap of paper still remained, tacked to one of the walls with adhesive. A single face stared down happily from the picture as Katie Shepard, Andrew's mother, smiled and laughed, forever held within the grainy image.

Andrew scrambled up a large pile of rubble and took a left, heading into a hole torn between two buildings. He landed heavily amongst a mixed array of pot-plants and broken benches of some abandoned garden, his rifle sweeping across the upper balconies, trying to spot some sign of a sniper or any kind of life. He didn't see anything, just shadow and washing lines strung between the balconies, the wind plucking at the suspended lines. He sighed, quelling his quickly beating heart as he rose to his feet and clattering across the tiled courtyard. This had been someone's life, a small patch of paradise on another alien world. Plants lay in piles by flower beds with abandoned garden tools, their owners long gone. His planned route was opposite to his landing position on the other side of the courtyard, a half opened door was a single line of shadow at the edge of its white expanse and was hard to pick out from the white walls on either side. A faint breeze brushed past him weaving its way through the open door and into the room beyond. He ducked inside, his suit's illumination systems activating and sending two fingers of light across the dark space. Work-surfaces and children's toys were all that greeted him. It was kitchen of some description, the floor covered in dust and debris, the cupboard doors having spilt their contents onto the floor. A smashed window gave him an unparalleled view on to the street where rain continued to dribble round the empty frame. The moonlight continued to play across the many surfaces beyond that and cast the street into a cold white light, still filled with rain.

"Nice weather for it…" Shepard murmured.

"I doubt the weather has little to do with it…" Malara was still there, a brief whisper on the other end of the line "…war is never a just thing, whether or not it is raining or not."

"It was a figure of speech…"

"Oh…." The commando didn't sound happy "…you're human."

"….and you're not?"

"I'm Asari…Sergeant"

"And, what if I were Turian?" Shepard remarked, knowing the answer before she even answered.

"I would have more confidence in your combat experience."

"Well, last time I checked, I didn't have scales and for a fact, I've fought for a lot longer then most Turians and _'for that matter'_, have more experience."

"Humans have little experience of true warfare."

Shepard immediately regretted his decision to retrieve this Alien. She spoke too well, her cut glass vowels more matching that of some Higher Upper in the ranks of the Asari. A Matron perhaps, probably here to lead her forces but came spilt from her troops.

Just like me, Shepard thought, he dropped into shadow of the window frame and took a quick glance up the street. Just like me….

"What is your role in the systems Alliance, Sergeant?" She was back, Shepard hoped she was feeling a little guilty abut her previous comment, perhaps some regret for past thoughts.

"I'm a Sergeant, 2nd Class of the Alliance Orbital Drop Troops. You lot come down in Ships and waste the enemy, you're a broadsword on this campaign, we are the scalpel. We hit precise locations, dealing with important targets and stealth operations. For that matter, we may be alright in a straight up fight; however a lack of numbers is our weak point."

"Did you have a squad…?"

Shepard slotted back his visor and took a quick glance at the Navigation Device, his grey eyes caught in the glow of the small plasma screen.

"I did…then we were blown off course so I don't know where the others touched down. There were ten squads in all, I was Squad 6."

"Were they your friends?"

"They are my friends. All people who come back are my friends, my comrades."

"And those who don't come back…"

"Are worthless and don't deserve my attention. I need people who are competent. Dying is incompetence."

There was a short silence on the other end of the line, that long pause people usually take when forced to revaluate someone's personality or morals.

"You are quite ruthless, Sergeant."

"You have to be with this job…" He snapped the visor back over his face ducking out into the street, the rain returning to patter off his helmet resoundingly. He ran low, skidding into the shelter of another door.

"But when you say you're drop Troopers…?"

"We are dropped into battle from Carriers waiting in Orbit in small, one man pods. This allows us to hit targets without much risk of been shot down due to our small size and in the chaos of battle, the comets look more like missiles or wreckage coming down."

"I'll bear that in mind if the humans decide they want to attack…" there was the slightest hint of humour in her voice as she spoke "…what is the most effective way to deal with A…..O……D….Ts?"

Shepard didn't smile beneath his visor, the humour lost on him as several dark shapes passed slowly across the entrance to the street, several hundred metres from his position.

"EMP blasts mainly, throws our navigation devices well off course. When the pods are launched, a scan has occurred, the ground studied and landing points targeted. Then, this is programmed into the pods, the landing systems calibrated so that brakes fire in a set fashion to allow as much comfort as possible for the Troops…" he raised the gun sight to his eye and took a quick look into the rain "…If the landing zone is screwed, the scan failed or the pods blown off course, then all Hell breaks lose. Our backups are parachutes which are more likely to rip the bones from their sockets then be of help. However, it does stop you, abruptly. And this usually means you'll end up upside down with the contents of your pod everywhere. And that can cause problems, getting a console in your face at 80 metres per second is very painful…"

There was a smattering of laughter on the other end of the line, Shepard grinning widely beneath his helmet. The stories his squad shared about their drops were quite funny as memories, however painful the experience was when it occurred. They'd sit there, propping up the bar and arguing, laughing and joking about past times.

About one rather dense Krogan Merc called Bolt, who'd offered to be dropped into battle in one of the Alliance Drop Pods. The pod wasn't just tiny; it was having a few problems with the land brakes. He had punctured the surface of the plant, kept going for 7 metres before hitting a sewage pipe. They'd had to drag a coughing, swearing Krogan soldier from his pod and up onto the surface in a hail of bullets. He'd bought them all a drink afterward, the merc laughing with rest of them as the some turned a fan toward him to ward off the bad smell…

…that and the time Gunney had a hit an Asari Brothel at 80 miles an hour and ended up upside down on a consort's bed. The rather surprised Asari wasn't exactly wearing much at the time and Gunney offered his services and several credits to the rather upset alien. It wasn't everyday a scarred, bloodied and heavily armoured drop trooper came crashing through your roof. Sure, to some it would have fulfilled several fantasies but at that time, seeing as the brakes had set fire to her curtains, the favours weren't forthcoming. The bullets, however, were.

"You'll have to tell me about them at some point, Human."

"You'll owe me a drink, Asari…" Shepard said, breaking the door in with a kick of his boot. He shot inside, turning to watch the still open door and dropped down behind a shot up couch "...when I get back to the Citadel, I'm going to Flux to drown my sorrows and toast any poor bugger who hasn't returned. I'm then going to go to my bunk, get in and read a book."

"Sounds like an exciting night."

"You know what; I never knew Asari could master sarcasm…" Shepard muttered crawling along the threadbare carpet which covered the floor, the rest of room falling into darkness.

"…amazingly, some can. Though I must admit, it is the lowest form of wit so I do avoid using it."

"…well, it may be the lowest form…" he ducked into a side passage, running low and quick across the rubble "…but at least it is wit."

"Perhaps…" there was quick pause as Malara clicked her tongue "…is it an interesting read?"

"Lord of the Rings." Shepard muttered, patting a lump on his rucksack, where the book, wrapped in a Kevlar lined, waterproof box sat. He'd taken it everywhere, different leaves, documents and strange alien devices slotted into the pages like bookmarks. Mason had always said he should have it installed in his breast plate after he'd read about some man been saved by his diary during some past war. However, seeing the size of the book, it wouldn't exactly help Shepard's reputation.

"I….I…will have to read that at one point."

"It's a good book…"

"Even for a human author…?"

"Even for a Human author, yes it is a very good book."

"Oh…" Malara let the noise of rain replace her words for a short time "…and I thought you humans were incapable of all intelligence attempts at poetry unless it involves clouds, lovers and sexual desire."

"That was a low blow…" Shepard grimaced as he paced down the rubble covered floor, the holographic display on his rifle lighting up the walls as the twin head lamps panned across the walls. "…you bunch of flutely, all female philosophers with questionable habits, blue skin and ways of taking a long time to say anything can't talk."

"That is rich coming from a quick breeding, slow thinking, pale skinned, sex mad, irresponsible, ignorant, greedy, easily lead, self serving ape. At least we are able to put our entire soul into our pieces of writing and pour the knowledge of the universe into one beautiful whole."

"Ok…" Shepard grinned ruthlessly as he fell out into the street. "…firstly, Asari, I do not have 'pale' skin. Secondly, whatever the hell you were just talking about, it sounded insulting…I would advise you stop insulting your rescuer."

"What rescue, you haven't got here yet." She spoke up; sounding vaguely impatient, irritable perhaps.

"Why aren't you coming to find me?!" Shepard objected, dropping behind another concrete pillar and looking out into the rain filled street "…why am I doing all the leg work!?"

"Oh, don't be insufferable, don't some of you're race have some degree of nobility and honour…" She replied.

"I have that, but I also think with a little more practicality. Getting shot isn't on my to do list when I'm mounting a rescue attempt. Unless someone's paying me of course."

"Money…" Shepard turned off his lights as Malara murmured "…you are driven by a bought goal"

Shepard didn't respond, dropping to one knee and resting the rifle in the crook of one his right arm. Things moved in the street, several guttural voices called to each other in Krogan. Shepard narrowed his eyes as the fluted tones of another Asari broke through the rain. She was at the front of the small mismatched group of Aliens and Humans who marched up the street in loose formation, rifles ready. He dropped into shadow, his eyes questing across the street for a possible exit. None revealed themselves without gaining attention. He had to nip this in the bud now, to slow any retaliation from the slavers; their strides were getting closer and closer to his position, their armour plates clicking together as they moved. Shepard fell back rapidly, backpedalling desperately down the street. The voices were much clearer; he could catch the tendrils of the Asari glistening in the rain as she moved, her skin tight combat armour catching the light as rain dribbled across its tightly stretched surface.

"The Council bastards are scattered across the city, we're still gaining heavy casualties from the pockets of resistance we keep coming across."

"They've been dropping in soldiers from Orbit…" the tougher tones of one of the Krogran replied "…looks as though the Council is bringing a whole load of weight to bear on us."

"Do you think the Commandent will do what she promises?"

"I doubt it…" a Turian at the rear of the group coughed into an armoured claw "…she has some personal vendetta to perpetrate and I ain't going to be around long enough to find out how long it takes the council to unload a whole load of hell onto this planet. I'm getting the goods and then leaving. This is a heavy weight fight and our ships against theirs will not last long."

"But we shot one down, we did a lot of damage…" the other Krogan interjected, its blunt head encased in a large armoured helmet "…doesn't that prove that we are on equal footing?"

"No, that was a lucky shot. Poor Alliance Workmanship…" the Asari spoke up again, her head twisting round to stare intently at where the Drop Trooper crouched "…just a minute."

She lent forward, peering into shadow beside the pillar, her eyes flickering over the concrete, the rain and the…

The Turian's head exploded in a shower of blood, the body falling like some grotesque puppet with its strings cut as a dull 'thoom' echoed from the surrounding buildings. Yelling the other pirates flailed around, dropping into cover as a single shadow sprinted through the buildings opposite to Shepard's position.

Shepard rose up onto his feet, cracking a human merc between the eyes with the butt of his mass rifle. Yelling a Krogan batted at him, Shepard's pistol slamming into his jaw and emptied its head into the sky above. The rain was filled with blood for a minute… The shrouded sniper blew another chunk out of a wall, slicing through a Krogan's face plate and scattering cranial fluid across his comrades as it tried to stoop lower into the cover of the wall.

Shepard opened fire, the snap of his Mass Rifle filling the air as the matt black troopers sprinted through the ruins, their visors catching the light. Blue flares of light were tearing from the building in super heated shards as the pirates were cut down one by one. The Asari fell, shrieking as a mass round punctured her ankle, blue blood mixing with the mud of the street. The rain was steaming in mid air as the street fell back to the silence. Shepard rose to his feet as more Drop Troopers broke from cover and sprinted into the open, rifles, sniper rifles and shotguns, all matt black, were raised and readied.

The Asari was still groaning behind a low wall a few metres away from Shepard's position. She was clutching at her ankle; face paling as she tried to drag herself clear from the surrounding soldiers. And came into contact with a thickly armoured boot, its black surface covered with mud and chemical burns. She looked up, pleading into the grey eyes of the soldier above her until the pistol he held in one hand emptied the contents of her head over the walls at her back. In his comm, he could hear Malara take a quick intake of breath.

"….andrew…."

"Amen…" The red tags on the Drop Troopers armour stood out amongst the black as Gunney snapped a hand to the side of his helm in salute as Shepard who was stowing his pistol turned to greet the other soldiers. "…looks like we pulled your boots out of the fire once again, Andrew."

"Gunney…" Shepard nodded back, taking a quick glance at the other soldiers. They looked tired their armour covered in mortar dust and burns. "…what the hell is going on?"

"It's all gone to shit…" Captain Gunney motioned the other AODTs inside as lights began to flicker over the horizon. "…troops are scattered, the Alliance misaligned the weather patterns and our boys are spread across the city. I rendezvoused with squad 1, part of squad 3…they've lost their squad leader. They landed in the middle of a slave camp; it was a near slaughter if my lot hadn't turned up at the right time. There was a clatter of boots and a sniper dropped down from the lower levels, a large grey silvery coat gathered around his shoulders. He had it pulled tight over his armour, the loose folds restricted to below the waist to allow easy movement. He had a hood pulled over his helm, armour plates stitched to the exterior of the coat. A single blue steak ran up the centre of the helmet, disappearing into the cloth of the hood. The visor shot back, revealing a madly grinning, bearded and familiar face behind it.

"Hey up, Sarge."

Shepard tried to remain stern behind the visor but felt his face breaking into a wide grin as Charlie Mason clapped him on the shoulder, the white skull painted onto his shoulder pad with the number 7 printed over it catching the light.

"Always late to a firefight ain't you Sarge?!"

"Not on your watch, mate…" they moved off through the abandoned block of flats, more AODTs filtering from side rooms. There were around 25 in all, most bloodied and muddy, some sitting with their backs against walls, heads bowed while they tried to re-catch their breath. Others stood at windows, Monoculars to their eyes as they tried to pick targets from the streets outside. The building stank of decay, the carpets were blackened, masonry dust dribbling off the walls in streams of water as leaks brought the weather inside.

"The Asari are pulling out as we speak…" Gunney continued, pushing open one door into a dank space. The room was covered in several pieces of technical equipment, portable computers and hard drives lent against walls as holographic projectors, projected several images into their air above. Most showed the city in one large rotating images. One showed several Turian ships in orbit, their hulls alight with windows and portals as tacticians watched and waited. "…the turians don't want to do anything, they just seem to expect us to weaken the entrenched forces, then they'll sweep in and wipe the slavers out, get the credit and we get sent home. We've been monitoring the comm. channels, both encrypted and open. Looks as though the bug eyed aliens are in cahoots with each other and leaving us high and dry."

Shepard bent down, taking a quick glance at several data pads "So what do you plan to do?"

"Continue with the mission…" Gunney folded his arms as several Troopers sprinted past the open door, rifles ready "…take this fight to the bastards that started it and hope to get back in one piece. We'll just hope its all 7ps" Gunney grinned wanly from behind his visor as behind Shepard, Mason fell back into step.

"God knows where the others are Sarge…" Mason fingered the trigger of his sniper rifle nervously "…I saw Moira and the rook go down toward the space port. Frank was swearing on the wireless a few hours ago but apart from that, that's all I've seen."

Shepard folded his arms, catching sight of the single black banner strung across the walls behind Gunney's head. A white skull with a pair of pearly white wings gathered around it glared back, the pommel of a sword erupting from the top of the cranium, the blade poking from under the jaw. Gunney looked up and followed Shepard's gaze.

"Nice touch, eh. I thought it might be fittin'"

"I can't believe you still carry that thing." Gunney nodded, patting his breastplate.

"Keep it here all the time. The air-dales tried to take it off me a while back. Not that I was going to let them. We cannot forget the flags we fought for; they certainly feel more real then that holographic crap the Alliance top brass force down our throats." Shepard agreed, remembering the moth eaten hardback book he had in his rucksack. Gunney was right, as ever. However much information could be stored on holographs, it never truly beat the real thing. Books, were better in paper. And flags, well, he eyed the slightly scorched, bullet holed flag. That was something worth keeping in fabric, not a group of fizzling electrons.

"A Flag?" Malara sounded puzzled on the other end of the line. Shepard ignored her. There was clatter of boots on the corridor outside and breathless soldier lent in the entrance, his face uncovered and newly shaven head dribbling with moisture.

"We've got an AFI sarge!"

"Understood…." Gunney lifted his rifle from beside the table "…where are you heading now Shepard?"

"I've been alerted to a downed Asari in the area. And, as ordered, I leave no one behind…ever."

"Right, well…" Gunney tapped the base of his visor. "…a biotic would be of great use to us. If you can locate and retrieve such an individual, we can push on to the space port pretty sharpish. No one's got a Biff-chit and I have no UGKYs anywhere, so we're going to push on in a matter of hours. However…" bootfalls could be heard, sprinting through the abandoned flats "…we're about to get hit and the blanket-stackers didn't give me any tripwires so it'll be a straight up fight."

"Think you'll manage?"

Gunney didn't respond, snapping his rifle onto his shoulder as he checked the heat sinks. Shepard took it as a yes. "Charlie, fall in!"

"Yes Boss."

"You never know…" Gunney paused in the door as gunfire began to break across the facility "…the bryllcream boys may get their act together and come and lend a hand if we're lucky, though I doubt the brass will be of much use."

"That'll take to much bumf if you ask me, Captain."

"Yeah…" Gunney left his words resounding in Shepard's ears as he sprinted off down the corridor "…but you can but hope."

"Yeah, though seeing as this is a Charlie Foxtrot, Sarge, I doubt the brass is particularly interested. They have to save face for their little mistake."

The once silent night descended into chaos as Shepard launched himself into the corridor. Heavily reinforced hard suits were everywhere, tumbling from doors and sprinting down stairs to reinforce the hard-pressed soldiers who guarded the front of the apartment complex. It was easy to see the difference between the standard issue Hard Suits the Alliance invested in and the AODTs armour suits. They were heavy, solid looking pieces of armour which were, rather then sleek and clean looking Alliance Hard suites, were blocky and square, and usually had a large black covered rucksack welded to the back. That and the helms with the retractable faceplate to avoid flak. The rifles were different too. Thick, square looking objects with the muzzles covered by a thick metal cover to reduce muzzle flash. There was no stock as such, the rifle and the stock closely resembling each other while allowing two holes for the trooper to rest his hands on and fire the gun. The weapons were 'streamlined' but not sleek. And they were the only group of soldiers to equip the grey camo-cloaks as Charlie Mason did, his flak plate snapping down as he pulled the hood up.

The rain hit them like a wall of water as they broke cover, leaving the apartment building behind them. Shepard would have liked to of lingered, but someone, somewhere was relying on him. And he wasn't going to let her down. Which was a rarity, Shepard had to be really pushed to truly do a job, but for once, this felt worthwhile. And the way the ships had been pulling out sounded like the Turians were going to decimate the city from orbit. Gunney knew that and he guessed that most of the entrenched forces had an inkling about what was going to be occurring. No one truly deserved to be left behind to be disintegrated by atomic fire

This wasn't the best time to be thinking about this however, Shepard sprinted through the rain drops, his helmet dribbling with water as the gravel surface beneath his feet. Charlie was behind him, a grey wraith as he sprinted on.

"What, by the Goddess is a Charlie Foxtrot?" Malara asked, voice crackling as the water dampened the signal.

"It refers to a Cluster Fuck."

"That is very degenerate Sergeant."

"It refers to a fucked up situation which is caused by several different parties." Charlie broke into the commlink, causing Shepard to raise an eyebrow.

"And your name is…?"

"Corporal Charlie Mason, AODT"

"It is nice to meet you Corporal…" she said, her tones crisp though vaguely friendly "…but I wish the circumstances were a little better to be meeting new people."

They sprinted on into the wind and rain, puddles splashing around their feet. And high above, dark, clouded eyes watched.


	3. Prologue: Born of Thorns

The Krogan shrieked, its throat cut by a stray round. It reached desperately for the wound as slowly, with such resistance to death it even surprised Shepard. He pressed himself up against a wall while his subordinate was a single grey shadow in a higher window, the sniper rifle steaming in the rain as its reinforced barrel poked through the demolished frame.

"Proudest moment!?"

"What…!" Shepard stepped out into the rain again, shredding an unshielded human soldier. "…why….why here?!"

"Proudest moment?" Malara repeated. This had been going on for some time now, the Asari's attempts at small talk had been coming again and again at the completely the wrong time. Shepard ground his jaw, Omni tool flashing as a shield disintegrated several metres from him, a sniper round destroying the target's cranium in a splatter of blue fluid.

"My proudest moment…." Charlie Mason buzzed in yet again, the resulting static causing the sergeant to wince "…fourteen pints of Krogan liquor in three hours!"

"That is despicable, Corporal Mason."

"I was in the med bay for five days."

"Liver failure and alcohol poisoning…" Shepard dragged a combat knife through a Turian's throat as it rounded a corner and lurched forward, sprinting up the street as the pirates at his heels strafed the streets with gunfire "…not something I'd be proud of."

"Ok, then what about you, Seargent?"

"Dunno…" Shepard managed to smash a door open with his foot and fell inside, feet tearing the threadbare carpet at his feet. "…haven't really done anything special in my life. I'm just a soldier, I generally do the right thing, what I think is right doesn't really come into it."

"That sounds…depressing."

"But why are you asking this?" he paced across another wood clad space.

"Interest, boredom." Shepard's face plate broke the nose of a charging Asari soldier who burst through the wall in a cloud of masonry dust. He ducked low; avoiding a splatter of shells as a shotgun recoiled, nearly tearing his head from his shoulders. The Krogan was a large hulking presence in the flood lit room on the other side. It was dressed in matt black armour, its head covered with its eyes, twin points of light in the dark. It was growling as it stormed forward, taking the scrambling drop trooper by the neck.

"Andrew!!!" Malara was just a voice calling in his ear as the alien lifted him up, his feet kicking as he coughed and gargled as the alien applied pressure to his reinforced neck guard. The pirate lent forward, leering as its face was reflected in the single visor slot. Shepard punched it in the nose, its armour deflecting the blow as a throaty chuckle echoing across the space as with his other hand; he vainly tried to reach his combat knife shoved into a sheath attached to the side of his boot. A grey shape detached from the black, wrapping its arms round the back of the Krogan, yelling all the while as the monstrous shape staggered backward, surprised. It dropped Shepard, leaving him sprawling in the dirt as the other wheeled around, trying to detach Corporal Mason from his back. Shepard pulled himself upright, digging a combat knife from his boot in one swift movement, plunged the blade deep into the krogan's side. A fist sent him tumbling as the Krogan lashed out, the lizard whirling round, taking a quick glance at the blade sticking horizontal from its back and the very little blood which dribbled from the open wound.

"Umm ho boy…." Shepard breathed, scrabbling backward as the Krogan snarled, stepping over the debris as it unslung its shotgun from its back.

It exploded in a shower of organic fluid, the remains of its corpse falling to one side. Private Frank Jeffries lowered the smoking shotgun, his eyes hard behind the visor as Shepard, gasping, rose to his feet.

"You worrying about me, Asari…" he murmured into the intercom as Frank holstered his gun, rain water still running down his suit from the weather outside. There was a slight release of breath on the other end of the link.

"What the hell happened to you old man?"

Frank grinned ruthlessly, one hand planted over a bloody wound stretched across his side.

"Got shot up, Sarge."

"One eventually got you." Shepard caught the old soldier as he fell forward, gasping as blood splattered up the inside of his visor.

"It hurts, Shepard."

Lights illuminated the windows briefly as the drone of a troopship passed them by, the noise putting Shepard's teeth on edge as the pilot gunned the engines and was gone into the night. Charlie Mason was a dull shadow beside on of the windows as he took a quick glance through the streets, the night clouded and silent after the passing.

"Will he be alright?"

"Some damage to the right side by appearances…" Shepard pulled a medi-gel dispenser from his backpack, sending a quick stream of fluid onto the ragged edges of the wound. "…you complaining about just a scratch, Soldier!"

"My ribs are busted up too, Shepard. I'm not going to be at my best."

"It'll be fine…" Shepard slid the cylinder back into place, lifting the soldier up from the ground. "…up ye get. The medics will 'ave you all cleaned up nicely when we get back."

"If we get back…" Charlie murmured.

"How far left, Sarge?"

"Next building across, Private…" Shepard bent down and wrenched the knife from the corpse. He flicked the blade, trying to clean its once silvery blade, a faint shower of blood splattering over the grey fatigues of the sniper.

"Oi, Watch the merchandise."

"Quit moaning." He sheathed the knife, retrieving his gun from the wreckage.

"I would have expected more…" Frank tapped the side of his visor. "…I don't see any more coming."

"Well, get moving…" Shepard took a look back over his shoulder. Thin beams of search lights were panning over the walls outside and highlighting each open window, each torn piece of metal, and each dead body. The Asari lay in a twisted pile, her head at a rather gruesome angle; he must have broken her neck when he'd connected with her face. And the Krogan was a mess, its hide torn, armour plating having given way under the point blank shotgun blast. "…we've got a short time before the Turian bastards start raining fire down upon us." They all ducked low instinctively as another dropship whirred by overheads, the rain caught in the light from its searchlights. There were shouts down in the street now, orders shouted as well as taunts and laughter.

"Small squad following us, I doubt they have the man power with most of them engaging the Gunney's platoon. Our target is in a burnt out building, 500 metres from our six. And I want you to run."

"Sounds like training all over again…" Frank said grimly as they dropped through the broken window onto street level "…just no hot showers afterward."

"Give it time old man."

"And he wants us to sprint. I'm getting too old for this Corporal"

"Quit making excuses old man…." Mason took one last lingering look down the street before, in a cloud of grey fabric, he charged off after the sprinting Sergeant. "…I just hope this prize Shepard is after is a looker."

"You shallow Bastard."

* * *

The flowers from split planters were left in sparkling pools around Malara's prone body. Through pain fogged eyes, the last lingering strands of her mind began to unravel as the rain continued its steady patter down onto her forehead. She raised a green tinged hand, her skin standing out amongst the cold moonlight as water collected on her thin, well defined fingers.

"Andrew…." She murmured, trying to glean some sanity from that single name. The man on the other end of the line. The soldier, the ruthless leader, the ADOT. But it wasn't someone she feared. He wasn't completely ruthless in his actions. Though he seemed cold to other people's emotions, there was some deep rooted sense of right and wrong stuck resolutely at the back of his skull. And that called out to the Asari, even if she couldn't feel anything from waist down and watched the sky though shivering, half closed eyes. The remains of her transporter lay some distance away, the remains of her squad scattered around it in bloody piles, their faces and their souls empty of all life. "…Andrew."

"Yeah, give me a minute…" He answered. He sounded rough, hard, rugged perhaps. Rather then the sleek slimy soldiers she'd met in the past, he seemed harder. Blunt, would be one way to describe it. And it passed to him and the rest of his squad, who ever they were. The laughing, loud Corporal Charlie Mason, the old, though resolute Private Frank Jeffries. She had felt his presence in the other house as her conscious wandered through the physical realms, sensing all the minds within the city. The pain, the torment and the fear. And then she felt his mind in amongst the walls.

Rain dribbled onto her nose, running in a cold trail down the curve of her lips. She shook her head, shaking the droplet free as her annoyance flared and said aloud to the air.

"Why must I lie here, plagued by hallucinations and self doubt while my sisters die in glorious battle?"

"I dunno Ma'am. Damaged to the main spinal column resulting in you not been able to move. I'm not a medic so I can't tell ye'." Moira had told him that….once. The rook looked up from his splintered rifle, his helmet discarded and his mop of brown hair running with water.

"And why are you still here….the most persistent figure of my imagination is sitting two metres away from me, eating what appears to be a can of food with the littlest interest for the world around you, with no will to take up arms and fight. A hallucination to plague my mind and fill my head with doubt."

The Rook, Elliot looked down into the half eaten can of bake beans clenched in one armoured gauntlet, his combat knife stuck into the orange coloured contents and chewed his lip. With a slight moments thought, he looked up and opened his mouth to speak;

"Would you like some?"

"I am a matron; we do not eat common soldiers food or supplies…." She paused, wrinkling her nose to cure some itch "…however, on this one occasion, I would."

Elliot inched forward, digging a sizable portion from the can and lowered the combat knife over the Asari's perfect lips.

"For a hallucination, you are rather abrupt when it comes to entering someone's comfort zone…." The green tinged pupils alighted on the food stuff which was resting a mere centimetre above her face "…and those look disgusting. I will, however, persist."

A green asari was a rare sight but those brought up in the more wooded areas of illium were of a rather rare stock. Such a trait led to the bleaching of the skin a mild green colour, something of a rarity on the Asari homeworld. That meant, however that the green-skins were looked down upon by the others and in some circumstances, discriminated against. The pureblood and the Blue put aside their differences to pick a fight with the green, basically. They were called Orcs, some reference to an old vid by appearances or Thorian Born a name that was a complete mystery to Malara. Her mother had never explained it and instead paled visibly each time the name was uttered.

She took the food with a slight inclination of her head. Elliot could quite understand why she couldn't move. She had nothing on her, nothing holding her down and yet she just lay there, occasionally protesting loudly to the world on random, mundane topics. He took a quick glance at her legs, the incredibly tight Asari combat armour leaving little to the imagination. Her legs were smashed, the bone sticking out at random points to split the clean flesh and send bumps rising through the armour. She was a wreck from the waist down....

"That was…" Malara finished chewing "…bearable"

Elliot felt a slight tug of sympathy for the alien below him. This was the first time he'd ever truly spoke to an Asari. He'd gone with Shepard and the others into Bars and seen them dancing on stages, but then they were more pieces of meat to the surrounding patrons, even if Shepard, Moira and Frank averted their eyes and took a long swig from their drinks. They always seemed so graceful, so beautiful in their movements. And he'd seen them on the Presidium too. While others would glare at the rough looking, heavily armoured soldiers who stood to attention outside the Embassies, the Asari passerby seemed interested, pausing to take a good long look at the heavily armoured, dirtied troopers who stood apart from the sleekly armoured soldiers either side. AODTs had that effect and rather than the clean, precise lines of the Alliance Marines, AODTs were a ragtag bunch of many peoples.

"More…" the Asari opened her mouth expectantly "…please."

He shovelled some more in, sitting back on his haunches.

"Can I ask…" she said, swallowing the last mouthful "…what does that symbol mean?" She tapped a small square shaped mark on one of the shoulder pads. It was blue, a white X shape cutting the back ground up into four separate triangles. And on top of that, a red cross was painted brightly onto the white and blue of the background.

"That's the Union Jack…" Elliot tossed the can away, the metal clattering on the hard surface. "…it was where I lived before I joined the AODT. Its also where I was trained and served in future years."

"Where is that?"

"Britain, on Earth. It's a small damp island. We've always been known to punch above our weight, hence why most of the AODT come from the British Isles, or at least have roots to the British Isles. Though Sergeant Shepard is a spacer and has never set foot on Earth, he views himself as British and takes some pride in that."

"Oh…" she paused, a pale tongue extracting a stray bean from where it was lodged in the corner of her mouth. "…home."

"Where was home for you?"

"Home…" she winced, face curling back as pain caused her to pale visibly. Elliot, perturbed, lent forward, his backpack ejecting his cylindrical medi kit with a hiss as his other hand gripped her feeble claw like fingers as she made a pained keening noise through clenched teeth. He bit the Perspex top of the small med canister and tore it off before extracting a sharp needle from a felt wrapped bag which occupied some of the space within the small canister shaped med kit. With one deft movement he attached the needle, priming the cartridge.

"I'm going to inject with terra made pain killers. I doubt they're quite what you're used to; they might do more harm then good. But its all I've got so bear with me."

He didn't wait for an answer, plunging the needle into a protruding vein he could see through the skin. The canister ejected its contents with a hiss. He tossed it away quickly as she spasmed, pressing his weight into her to stop any movement which could do any more damage. Not that that was possible, the legs were nearly gone and it would be a long time till she was able to walk again so all he could do was hold her down until the Sarge found him.

"Forest…..home….I miss it sometimes. The trees…the flowers. Mother….I…" she paled again, teeth bared as her lips curled back. "…I want to see it again."

"Tell me more…" it was a more a distraction, as Elliot grasped the clawlike hand in one gauntlet as he held her still, the Asari straining up against him "…tell me about where you come from."

"Its…..a forest…I….used to play in the fields at the base of the trees……" she fell back gasping as the drugs slowly began to take effect "…my mother would always walk amongst the trees and pick flowers, her followers gathered around her as she wandered. She was….beautiful. We lived, in the canopy. I could see the lights of the city and I wished to visit it one day. But when I got there…" she paused, becoming limp as her head lolled back "…I wanted to go home."

Elliot didn't respond. All of this reminded him of his home, but he hadn't seen Earth in nearly five years. And he guessed it was the same for her.

"How did you become a commando…?"

"I was selected by the matriarchs to be a biotic soldier when I was a Maiden…" she parted her lips, letting water dribble onto her cracked lips "…they found I wasn't as powerful as first thought and pushed me down the ranks. I had to fight my way up until finally, I became a Matron, I was a well respected tactician and soldier. That didn't lose respect among my family, unlike the purebloods and the blueskins. Greenskins don't have strong biotic powers. We're soldiers and commandos. The spiritual views are lost upon us except the flow of the natural world and the movement of the energy among the trees, plants and life. My mother…" she smiled, eyes closed "…always preached that life was to be lived and loved and that we may never restrict ourselves. We are just cogs in one vast machine."

* * *

"Gogogogogogogogo!" rounds whirred by as Charlie, Frank and Andrew sprinted through the streets, rain breaking around their boots as gunfire rained down from the pursuing soldiers. Mason dropped to one knee, blasting apart one soldier as he brought his gun upward, trying to get a clear shot as the black clad soldiers amongst the dark. The amphitheatre of ruins were rising from the black, the smoking ruin of an Asari drop ship barely visible within the broken walls as Shepard skidded to a halt, dragging Frank backward as grenade blew close by, the blast sending Mason staggering for cover. Shouts and yells filled the street as more and more soldiers filtered through, their rifles spitting death. Shepard clamped himself up against a wall, the rifle shredding another soldier who tried to leap the low wall beside their position. He pulled his arch of fire downward, a round blowing a hole in an Asari that rose up from her hiding place, her figure glowing with blue ethereal light as Biotic ability activated. Mason extended one long barrel, his round smashing a Krogan off its feet as it struggled to reach his position, its arms windmilling as its major organs gave out.

* * *

"I am one of the few Asari soldiers to wear heavy armour." Malara continued "…what I am wearing at this present moment is merely a flight suit of some description. I wear Gladiator Class…" she paused as the noise of battle washed over the amphitheatre of ruins. Shouts, running footsteps and swearing echoed quite clearly through the close, rain filled space. "…the grey brings out the colour of my skin."

Elliot didn't respond. The colour of his armour did not bring out the colour of his skin. He wore a helmet, which solved the problem quite quickly. Simple solutions rather then new age gimmicks or cosmopolitan ethics usually followed the grain among the AODT. It worked and the chances of survival were increased, it didn't work, you died amusingly and painfully.

"And I guess you never truly bother about how the armour looks."

"You get shot, covered in blood, mud, oil, some one else's blood. Why would you care."

"Clarity."

He almost yelled in relief as Shepard, Mason and Jeffries exploded from the darkness, the enemy hot on their heels. Shepard emptied his gun repeatedly into the blackness, his suit's alarms signalling an overheat. But the soldier didn't care; he just fired again and again, his flak visor covered in blue blood. Beside him, Jeffries own mud splattered armour took a shot, the shield barely holding as the generator stuck into his backpack whined in complaint. Corporal Mason snarled, spittle gathering on his lips as his grey cloak spread out around him, the mono filament built into the cloak's weave blending in easily with the grey rock on either side.

"Sitrep Rook."

Elliot snapped to attention "I've been watching the Asari, Sir. Pod pretty much smashed down off course into an old complex over the west. Scavenged what I could and made my way here." He barked, never breaking his gaze.

"Why aren't you trying to reach the RV like the others should be doing!!?"

"Gun's buggered sarge and the impact smashed my pistol. I just sat tight and waited for evac. If the Asari had a beacon then somehow her lot would come and get her and me at the same time."

"Good Logic, Rook." Mason muttered, snapping the bolt backward on the sniper rifle.

"And eating Bakebeans. Your mission objective comes first…!!" Shepard brought his visor close to the smaller, less battle scared helmet of his suborndinate. "You…do…not…fucking…shirk…your…DUTY!!!!!!!! I gave you an order, didn't I!!!!"

"Bu…"

"Not fegging Buts private. You land, you get the job done and I do not want any _fegging_ whines out of you from now on. I don't care if you have bite their bleeding kneecaps off. You do not sit around eating. ARE WE YOUR CHAFFEURS!!!!!!"

"Wha…?!"

"ARE WE YOUR DRIVERS WHO HAVE TO COME AND COLLECT YOU ALL THE FUCKING TIME!!!!!!!"

"No, Sir."

"Right, then next time…" Shepard roughly drew his pistol and slapped the handle into the hand of the soldier "…fight. Now get your gear and _get...set._"

"You've been told Rookie..." Mason looked up from the floor as Shepard pushed by. "…Don't on any account get on the wrong side of Shepard when he's in a bad mood."

"What in hell am I going to do with a lousy pistol?"

Mason shook his head warningly as Shepard glanced back over his shoulder at that comment. "Do not tempt him to come back. You're lucky he gave you a pistol. He could of given you a combat knife or nothing at all. At least you'll be able to kill something with that. Whisper quiet with snow blind rounds, Shepard must be having a good day."

"Has he always been such a ball cruncher?"

"For how long I've known him, he has. It pays to be in this job…" Charlie flicked several droplets off his scope and fired. Out in the dark, there was a small scream. "…not everyone comes back and some of the hells Shepard has fallen into can have that effect. Its that little ruthless stripe he's got. That little tell in his eye when he's about to do something you'll be regretting for sometime. He is ruthless but good, a born survivor too…" he fired again, a bloody gargle answering the sniper round "…but he looks out for us. We all usually come back in one piece. That is, those he likes. Just remember, out of all the arses we meet on this job and like the wankers who give humanity a bad name, Shepard ain't one. He doesn't like senseless destruction or revel in violence. With him its duty, honour and survival."

"I understand, kind of."

"Just remember the last thing I said over all…" Mason wasn't truly listening as Elliot sputtered behind his visor after the lengthy description. "…keep to that and you and Shepard should get along fine."

Shepard ducked low, skidding to a halt beside the Asari who lay on the floor. Fingers, thin and fluted rose up to his face as he knelt down. They ran over the rough edges of his helmet, his visor running with water as behind his visor, the grey eyes were taken aback as Malara smiled, her thin, dark green lips curling back to expose what could be a smile. Alarmingly, her canines were over pronounced, fanglike, perhaps. But she seemed feral; several brown marks running back onto the scaled tendrils of her 'hair'. She wasn't as pale as her Maiden soldiers who lay broken and bruised about her, their bodies still and lifeless. In the pouring rain, she gripped the corners of his helmet and peeled away the flak shield. Behind the slit and thick carapace, she snapped back the clear visor and glared upward into the face beyond it. Shepard's dark skinned face glared back. Unshavem and stubble covered, his lower jaw was thick, his chin sinking down into the curve of his visor. Grey irises were set back into almost hooded eyes, dark eyebrows beetling across his brow, his nose leaning slightly to the left, evidentof a previous injury. A single small scar ran across the right hand side of his forehead.

"Some Asari prefer to see their comrades helmetless so that they can see your face…" Frank muttered, pulling another medikit from his pocket "…Faceless usually refers to soulless, emotionless beings who don't deserve attention." Malara gasped in what could be easily mistaken for ecstasy before her eyes rolled back into her head and she slumped back. Frank dropped back onto his haunches, scratching at his jaw, watching as a small sliver of drool dribbling from her gaping mouth.

"Rook…?"

"Yeah."

"How much did you give her?"

"Full Canister."

"They're delicate…" Frank moaned loudly slapping his hand over his eyes in exasperation "…delicate metabolic systems. And you've given her enough meds to knock out a whale. Well…" he sighed "…at least she isn't going to be feeling anything for a while. You alright, Shepard?"

"Yeah…" Shepard, perplexed, ran a armoured hand over the side of his face, her touch still leaving a faint shiver across his cheek "…that was a little weird."

"Well seeing the amount of Med the Rook gave her…" Frank shot Elliot a flat glare, Elliot looked down at the pistol; sheepish "…she probably wasn't capable of understanding what she was doing."

"Malara…" Shepard said it almost wistfully as he snapped the flak plate down over his visor and rose to his feet. "Get her movable. We're leaving now."

"Sir." The others moved to respond, as Shepard looked up into the sky. Ships were dropping through the clouds, blue trails of rockets raining down onto the ground below left spiralling streaks. Rain, superheated by the rockets' trails, steamed as the mass propelled cartridges shattered, raining incendiaries down into the streets.

"Damn…" Charlie breathed as the sky was lit by fire, the drooling Asari rising from her resting place borne by Frank and Elliot. In the streets around them, the Pirates were retreating, their shouts panicked as the ships broke through the clouds like leviathans rising from the waves of some cloudy sea. And there, the moons continued to glare through the clouds, where fighters flitted and dived down, tearing apart the ground in a hail of mass rounds. Shepard breathed out a long, guarded breath.

"We can rule out saving the civilians then."

"Expendable commodity, Sergeant…" Mason folded his arms as near to them, Dropships dropped on blue tinged wings to pluck his soldiers from the battlefield. Shepard tilted his head back to take in the clouded sky, catching faint glimpses of the stars beyond.

"This is a mess…" he slammed his fist into his breast plate, his hand claw-like over the squad symbol painted in striking white "…this is a fegging mess."

Only the rain heard him…


	4. Book 1: NightWatch

The Normandy's night cycle filled the empty corridors with soft hues and dark shadows as the last of the skeleton crew moved from their consoles to their pods, the night cycle taking full effect. Joker was already napping, his hat pulled down over his eyes, the consoles before him dark as the portals looked out onto the bleak alien world around it, it's hull lights blinking in sequence. Liara lay, head resting on a square white, lavender scented pillow in the back room of the med-bay, Shepard's copy of 'Paradise Lost' falling down with a clatter onto the metal flooring.

Garrus sat alone at the mess table, his sniper rifle in pieces before him as in oil stained talons; he worked his way through the delicate inner workings of the rifle. He slotted the magnification device down over his eyes as he worked, the lens contracting as he zoomed it in with a flick of his finger. Satisfied, he extracted the ammo cartridge and turned over the block, running a digit over the rough, business end, his mandibles twitching slightly.

Kaiden pushed the ear plugs into his ears as in the next pod, Ashley's mouth yawned as she let loose another gut wrenching snore. Unable to use gas to sleep due to his many allergies, Kaiden felt tempted to either strangle his comrade or beat himself over the head with his night stand (which stood absurdly beside the pod) until unconsciousness claimed him. It was her fault of course, the sixteen Krogan vodkas she'd quaffed an hour before lights out in a quiet corner of the hold certainly had an effect on the treble. He'd tried some; it was like quaffing the engine fluid Tali used to clean the pipes every time they had a burn through. He was even sure this was the stuff she used, it just seemed so volatile, the slightly smoking liquid that smelled quite strongly of dead varren meat which Wrex brewed in a small still he had stashed behind one of the crates. Ashley let rip again, the glass door set into the front of the pod rattling in its cradle. Kaiden kneaded his pillow. It was going to be a long night.

The fizzle of discharging set Tali's suit sparking as she stepped from the noisy interior of the engine room. Unlike the busy environment at her back, the hold was empty except Wrex who was snoring rather loudly on an overturned crate beside the Gunnery Chief's workstation, a ragged blanket pulled around him. Careful not to make much noise she slunk forward, the only noise of her passing, the whistle and click of her respirator. The hold door was open, the cool wind groaning slightly as it flowed round the struts. Algelon 5 had always been a windy planet, the many breezes which ran across its surface constantly stirring the knee length grass which covered its many steppes and plains. It was too far away to be of use for colonists and yield little to interest most corporations. It had prothean ruins however, but these, now stripped bare by scientists and looters were off little interest to anyone else.

The wind moaned mournfully. Even within the confines of her suit, Tali could still feel the long grass brushing her calves. She paused, craning backward to look wistfully up at the twinkling stars, the tiny glimmers of light reflecting off her nearly opaque visor. The five moons of the Blinking Cluster lit the ground around her in soft shades, the silver of Terroan mixing with the violent blue of Ulysses before both mixing with the violent red of Margo, the red sister. Blue always stood out however, the most far reaching colour of the spectrum. She stretched upward, cracking stiff joints, illuminated by the blue tinged light. Behind the visor, the eyes closed as she took a deep breath. Around her, the animals chittered and called, their nightly habits once again playing out uninterrupted. Even by the vast white ship which sat in a slightly singed area of grass, several power lines anchored deep in the ground, static causing the lines to thrum. Core discharge usually didn't take this long but after the hell Shepard had put them through to get here, it was truly worth it. Of course, been so isolated did raise the issue of refuelling. They were a long way from Alliance controlled space and from the readings the Quarian had taken before their rather abrupt landing, they only had enough fuel left to get the to Yanult Minor, a nearby gas giant where one rather blue sky thinking volus had set up a refuelling station.

It was so strange to see the Normandy grounded. She had been used to spotting the ship hanging in dock perhaps, or in flight but not like this. It was almost as if it was tied down, restricted from being allowed to roam free. Like a creature perhaps, trying to break free from its restrictions but becoming still as it realised resistance was as futile as trying to make the wind stop…

The world was dead, too dead. The dead souls spoke to all on the breeze. The humans didn't notice it, Liara hadn't heard it and Tali…she could hear the ancestors talking to her…

There was a faint flash of an omni tool several hundred metres away. On top of the MAKO, discarded after one exploration attempt just a few hundred metres from the Normandy's nose, a shadow sat, its legs swinging over the edge. With his back to Tali, Shepard ran a hand over the holographic display of his omni tool and raised his hand to the sky. The tool chimed, a holographic field of stars rising from the gauntlet. With nimble fingers, the large man slowly rotated the image, the stars twirling above the palm of his hand.

"Shepard?"

He grunted, his attention not completely focused on her. She sighed. He was once again in one of those moods. He'd been quiet since they'd left the citadel after a long conference with the Asari consort. He'd barely spoke a word to anyone and had spent his time staring grimly at his personal console. She'd tried to glean something from him, trying to break this near impenetrable wall he'd thrown up in the past days. But those grey pupils yielded nothing, his face cold and expressionless. This was…most unlike him. The almost childlike enthusiasm he usually expressed when around machines had disappeared, just more a cold fury which lingered behind the eyes.

Tali began to talk. It should have been words to reassure, they were pleasantries more or less, to try and jolt Shepard from his thoughts. All he heard was Quarian, which didn't help. He'd ditched the universal translator a few days ago and instead had spent many days listening to Wrex rumble on in Krogan while Garrus chittered away in a rather bizarre speech made up of clicks and whistles, which mimicked the calls of birds. The clip, which usually fitted in his ear lay, gunked up on his desk waiting for him to clean to wax from its well formed surface.

She swore in Quarian. He recognised that part of the language all too well and winced, visibly as he raised his arm once again and took another picture, the sky becoming one with his glove for a second before he lowered his arm. The stars visible now mirrored the whirling array of lights which hovered over his hand. Happy with his little collection he dropped from the vehicle, turned to the still speaking Alien, slapped his ears with both hands, shrugged and brushed by, disappearing into the hold.

All the air within Tali's mask became decidedly frosty at that point. He wasn't wearing his clip, again…

"Damn that infuriating man!" she said venomously and turned to watch him go, his shadow disappearing into the well lit lift at the far end of the hold. Since they'd met, nearly a year ago, Tali's own thoughts on the commander were a little skewed. It was hard to read past the soldier, past Shepard's vast array mental armour. She got on well with him admittedly, not quite as much as the others however. He laughed with Kaiden, traded anecdotes with Garrus rather easily, teased Wrex, the Krogan having a deep rooted respect for the human. He had deep murmured conversations with Liara and then…well, Ashley and the Commander never got along.

To Tali, Shepard was a hard man. But beneath that, she'd caught the faintest glimmer of softness. But still, this was just so…typical.

She nearly broke one of her thin digits on the packing crate as she slammed her hand into the side of it. He was sulking, infuriatingly! But this time, there was something truly bothering him rather then usual grumpiness. She felt the smallest pang of sorrow before her annoyance came rolling back.

She stalked back into the warm interior of the ship. Wrex started awake as the Quarian stormed by, her eyes, slits behind the visor as she ground her teeth. He rolled over…now really wasn't the time to be commenting on another's mood. He went back to sleep with dreams of his home world…

* * *

Shepard snapped the OSD into his console and cracked his fingers, sinking down into his chair as star systems became whole on his monitor. He ran a finger across the image, spinning the spiral arm of the galaxy. Planets, stars and black holes raced by, the galactic cartographer spurring on image after image, before his eyes as in the dimly lit interior of his private quarters, several small devices whirred and clicked on shelves set into the walls. On the small, circular table set into the middle of his room, an orchid flowered within a small mass field, a constant mist of moisture dispensed by the small disk it was mounted on hydrating the flower.

The cartographer whirred, as their current position rolled into view. Shepard stirred the holograph once again, the stars boiling out of the screen to surround him in many glittering colours. Shepard smiled, grimly at first before sinking back into his usual grim expression. The screen went black as he cancelled the programme. In the following dim lights, he leant back in his chair, eyes drooping closed as the silence of the Normandy flowed back in…

* * *

The metal clad corridor of the Frigate Penitent Tangent was full of shouted orders as pods were slotted back into place. Soldiers, their armour stowed in lockers ran back and forth in loose black fatigues, their faces unmasked. Most were busying themselves with their pods which hung in cradles over empty air beside the mesh floor of the corridor. Some were still running internal diagnostic scans on their returned Drop Pods, but most of the AODTs were more focused on stowing their equipment before their thickset commanding officers gave them three months of Personal Training.

"That's a five minute call for next Mass Effect…" Shepard yelled over the noise as the squads around him, nodded respectfully but kept running "…I want all things ship shape, no excuses…" he grinned ruthlessly as several new recruits stumbled by "…I don't care if you're wet behind the ears or a grizzled ancient. Kit needs to be top notch right now!" He retrieved his own scarred rifle from a floor side locker beside his pod which emerged from the wall at his back. The hatch was open and the interior had been finally restored to its nearly pristine condition pre-drop. With a heartfelt sigh, he checked the rifle before with firm but deft hands, snapped it into the cradle set into the metal beside his chair.

"They didn't return your picture I see…" Charlie waved an arm at the empty space above where Shepard's head would be, should he be sitting in the pod "…pity. They didn't return my pictures either."

"They got yanked and its not as if we've got our names carved into it…" Shepard replied, not taking his eyes of his rifle as he pulled the ammo cartridge free. "…not as if they particularly care what we think."

"You really don't get on with the brass do ye sarge."

"Its always been a might fine mess we've been dumped into each time. Each time we drop, a lot of people die."

"Well, they do on the other…"

"On our side Mason…" Shepard said flatly "…on our side. Us…the expendable commodity in the Alliances Grand Scheme of things."

"We do win occasionally."

"Name One."

"Pavonis…"

"Death Count, 52 AODT."

"Oh…Galadan."

"75 AODT, 2 statues in the colony centre remembering the Fallen."

"Skyllian Virge?"

"150, AODT, Last stand by Captain Adams of the First Alliance Recon. Two bars, one Named Adams's Rest, the other called Raven's Beak to commemorate the Fallen AODT."

"Good Bars?"

"Yes…" Shepard replied.

"Alrightalrightalright…" Mason grumbled as he snapped the pod hatch closed, scratching at his beard as he did. "…we have been in quite a few scrapes. But c'mon sarge…we're all still alive."

"I have Moira and the Rook in the Infirmary."

"Well, Moira got shot…"

"By her own side you Pillock…!" Shepard tossed an ammo cartridge into Mason's hands. "…some Turian bastard took a pot shot at her."

"You're beginning to sound like Terra Firma." Charlie said warningly.

"Do not compare me to that bunch of jumped up Twats…" Shepard slotted his pistol into position on the opposite side of his chair "…I am not a xenophobe. I'm for 'Turians going to Opticians' Party. The stupid bastard was blinded by the rain…"

"I Know, he told you, I was there. He'll be picking up most of his face scales off the floor of the Landing Port now…" Mason replied, Deadpan. "...why's Elliot in the infirmary?"

"The 'Rook', got his finger caught in the Dropship boarding ramp as he took off."

"And you're stilling calling him the rook because…"

"Because he's a right stupid wan…"

"Shepard…" Mason muttered urgently "…behind you."

"…ker…Wha…" Shepard became acutely aware of the hush which dropped over the deck. Men and women froze, some half way in and out of pods, most clutching weaponry, all looking at him. Or at least at the gap behind his head.

He turned rather slowly, a rather clean fragrance cutting through the oil filled air. What awaited him was rather astounding. Borne by one rather disgruntled Asari was that same Green Faced Asari he'd rescued from the planet surface. She was bloody, dirt covered, obviously only just been retrieved from the battlefield, the marks of medigel packages still visible across her torso and she was soaking wet.

"Matron…" the other Asari objected plaintively as obviously in pain, Malara lent heavily on her subordinate, gazing almost hungrily at the Seargent "…I must insist that you return to the Destiny of Acension Immediately!!. Matriacrch Zamia is requiring your report and I doubt mixing with these…" she looked around at the frozen soldiers "…Soldiers will be of particular use."

"Andrew Shepard…" Malara ignored her complaining companion, gripping her shoulders in pale green hands, her bones creaking "…I just wanted to say…"

Shepard raised a hand, silencing her mid sentence. "If every man, woman or whatever is listening to this conversation, I would advise discontinuing that immediately or I'll have you on the Bum squad before you can say 'Charlie Foxtrot'…" There was a rapid flurry of movement as the soldiers went back to their duties. Training helped, but most hoped it would be a while till they saw the training grounds of Titan once again. Except Charlie Mason who watched him intently "…that means you too Mason…" he looked up, perplexed as behind him, Shepard could here the Asari's two broken legs creaking "…Get your gear and get your stuff square away…" Mason stood slightly taller, as if trying to protest "…that means _now_ Corporal."

Shepard turned back to the heavily wounded Asari, leaving Mason grumbling into his beard. "Go on, Miss."

"Malara, Shepard."

"Go on, Ma'am." Shepard said evenly.

"You…ah…never mind. Shepard I would like to thank you and your squad."

"I was just doing my Job, Ma'am…" Shepard folded his arms "…it was nothing personal. We need Biotics and you seemed like a good choice of objective, seeing as the rest of the world was going to hell."

"Wait…" Malara's eyes narrowed rather fiercely. "…you trekked across to find me because you thought I was…useful!"

"Don't flatter yourself too much…" Shepard said, deadpan as always "…you can barely stand. You were nearing Useless. And you were doped up enough to fell a whale so when we got there, it was a bunch of weird garbled crap."

"I thought Humans were honourable."

"I though Asari were supposed to be good biotics."

"I'm a Green Skin, we don't _do_ biotics."

"Then what are you useful for?"

"For _fighting_"

"Yes, but so am I."

"What, by the Goddess is that supposed to mean?"

"I've already got a full squad of soldiers."

"Now you're just been awkward."

"I don't need _another _soldier…" Shepard sighed "…look, Darlin'. I've got the mission squared away. I talked to you a little, you insulted me, I insulted you. And then you just lay there, making philosophical comments about the world, me and the rest of creation…I use that term loosely…" Mason coughed rather audibly behind. "…I like simple. Plans are simple, war is simple on the ground. You aren't. You threw one big spanner in the works because I, stupidly, felt that you needing rescuing. And in fact…you were _fine."_

"I broke both my Legs!!"

"So what…if it wasn't for your race's shoddy piloting skills, you wouldn't have been in that mess."

"Do _not_, on any account generalise my race just because I had a bad pilot."

"Hah! So you admit it! The asari are bad pilots!!"

"I didn't say that!!!"

"Ma'am…" Shepard said forcefully "…we do not need your thanks. The amount of people we've dragged from the ruins and been thanked for is a tiny proportion to the amount of people who haven't come back. I did my job; my squad did their job so that your royal Arse could get back safe and sound…"

"Sergeant!!"

"You say thankyou…I've lost so many men today but oh…don't worry…" Shepard went on, taking a more sarcastic tone "…_one Asari is all safe and sound so she can wander back and have a nice cup of camomile tea!_"

"That's _IT_!!" Malara shrieked as Shepard finished his rant. "…I came to say thank you and all I get is an Insolent, self righteous, rugged, brainless, ape faced…" she paused for breath, the colour rising in her cheeks "…_PRICK_!!!"

"Well done…over a hundred years of education and philosophy and you still have a mouth like a toilet."

Fuming, she left, being forcefully dragged through the bulkhead and out into the busy corridor beyond. Shepard watched them go, his arms folded.

"Ouch…" Corporal Mason ran a hand over his sweating forehead. "…she really toasted you good."

"Charlie…" Shepard rumbled. "…your mouth is talking, I'd fixed that."

"You really told her where she can stick her friendly, happy commiseration."

"Mason!"

"Sorry, sorry…" the corporal muttered, tapping the console beside his pod "…put me back on PT for three months, I'll be back on titan before I can say 'Charlie Foxtrot'…" he paused, Shepard still standing beside him, arms folded. "…I'll just leave Post-Jump, psychopathic super trooper Sergeant Shepard to his grumpy…"

"Corporal Mason…" Shepard said through gritted teeth "…_NOW_!!"

"Ok, ok, ok…" Mason grabbed his bag from the floor and hurried by. "…grumpy bastard."

"You'd be a hopin' that I hadn't heard that."

He too disappeared into the throngs of soldiers and technicians who occupied the corridors beyond the troop deck. Behind him, he heard a dull thunk as Shepard's fist connected with the exterior of his pod.

* * *

The hammock smelt of engine oil, layered with the faint smell of cinnamon which was held in each fold of the brightly coloured, slightly frayed fabric. Tali sat back in her makeshift bed, the engine room whirring and clicking around her as Adams waved goodnight and slid out into the hold. She couldn't abide the pods and chronic insomnia brought on by the silence of the ship had left her with quite a dilemma. Then Shepard, out of character and rather kindly which was strange for him, had ordered that a hammock be strung up in the engine room so that Tali "could be close to the engine to deal with any particular issues which may arise and Adams cannot deal with in time". There had been the tiniest twitch of movement above Shepard's right eye as he said that. It had been hard to spot, Wrex hadn't noticed it and Kaiden had his head in an ice pack groaning like a husk with a hangover and Liara deeply absorbed in a book Shepard had lent her. Ashley, however, had raised an eyebrow at Shepard's odd request and shot Tali a rather deadpan glare as beside her, Garrus's mandibles twitched, the Turian folding his arms.

The meeting had then dropped back into the usual mundane arguments involving coffee, next leave and the contents of the last mission, which Pressly slowly worked through in excessive detail. And Shepard let him speak, the Commander's eyes closed, eyebrows arching downward as he feigned sleep.

Ashley hadn't talked to her again after that, leading to several tense five minutes riding the elevators from C-Sec to the Presidium. The Asari too would smile wanly each time Tali graced on of the tables of the med bay, having an inoculation or having a wound removed, putting Tali vaguely in mind of a funeral each time she entered. Chakwas had always shooed her away, Liara disappearing into her back room to work through whatever rusty artefact Shepard dredged from an Asteroid field.

It was probably nothing…Tali let an arm fall over the edge of the hammock and scooped a catalogue from the floor. And, with the winds moaning along the walls of the hull and dull orange of the lamp set into the wall by her makeshift bed her only light, she sat back and immersed herself in pictures of weapons, mods and oversized star cruisers.

* * *

Shepard woke with a start. The room about him was filled with a warm muzzy glow as he rubbed sleep from his eyes, the blurred images of his quarters becoming like shadows for a second. A flash of green jolted him from sleep, green skin, green tinged eyes, fluted fingers and feral face markings. Shepard felt his heart stop briefly as the room wobbled slightly. He almost felt disappointed as the blurry images clear leaving him with an empty, warm space. The orchid still flowered in the jar on his table, the screen before him pitch dark after he'd powered it down. Beside his hand, his translator sat ready, pristine after he'd cleaned it several hours ago. Beside his other hand, his Alarm clock displayed in thin, orange holographic letters the hour, the day and weather conditions. It read 1:00am.

Well, he'd done it again. Shepard sighed, resting his arms behind his head, trying to work out how he was going to get the bare metre gap from his chair and his bed with minimal effort. He'd once again fallen asleep in his chair, again…one of his many habits. He yawned, massaging at his grizzled jaw. He really needed a shave…

He rose to his feet, stepping into the gap on the right of his bed. He touched his knee against a jutting panel and stepped back as a block of wall dropped away, a sink and toilet bowl dropping free. In the grimy mirror that followed, his took a quick glance at the unshaven jaw and ran hand over the thin scar which split the right side of his forehead in two lengthways. He ran the tap awhile, the pipes gurgling as the recycling device rumbled beneath his feet. He doused his face with the cool water and looked once again into the mirror, his dripping face glared back, his face hard and lined as perusal. He shut the tap off and took a quick glance once more at himself. There was the faintest flash of green behind him, the air seeming to become filled with the smell of clean, open space before an odd sensation brushed along the top of Shepard's spine. Like the lover's lips gently plying his own senses, he could feel…something on the nape of his neck.

He swore, ripping his pistol from beneath his pillow, activating the firing mechanism and span round in one fluid movement. There was nothing behind him, no living or synthetic body occupied his space, the door hadn't opened and his work station was left exactly how it was. Water dribbled freely down Shepard's face as he lent back against the wash bowl, his pistol sinking downward as he breathed out.

"You're just seeing things Shepard…" he breathed, trying to reassure himself "…nothing there…nothing here…You're just tired…" he sank down onto the bed, the wash basin folding away. "…just get some sleep and it'll all be fine in the morning."

The orchid's watering system gurgled quietly in the following silence.


	5. Book 1: Of Men and Minds

Welcome to the next Chapter: Of Men and Minds following Commander Shepard and his mismatched group of soldiers. I'm still in the rigors of Mass Effect 1, enjoying it immensely, even if Tali's character is a little two dimensional, but oh well, i hope this piece provides a good testimony to that soft spoken but highly gifted engineering genius who followed my squad nearly every time along with my other favorite, Wrex. This Firefly-ish piece takes a bat to Heroism and knocks the heroic commander Shepard down a peg or two. He is just a soldier in the end, and even though he's ruthless, its not cruelty in his choices, he's blunt and he has his and the crew's best interests at heart. The whole Paragon and Renegade thing was a little beyond me in Mass Effect 1, my Shepard tended to occupy the little grey area called neutrality, i smuggled equipment but saved the council. I shot Dr Wayne, but kept the Rachni Queen alive. I managed to con machines out of quite a bit of money with the device given to me outside flux but i still managed to catch the criminals who were selling illegal mods.

So perhaps describing my character as good and evil, i don't know. Its up to you to tell me what you think. Please Read and Review.

Tharagon.

* * *

Shepard lent the last of his breakfast on the side board and sunk down into his chair. Well used, the chair formed around him, the fabric soft against his back as he rested a finger on the side his face. He could feel the rumble of engines beneath his feet, the whir of the generators sent the floors rattling as the last of the fuel ran through the fuel lines. It wasn't long till the next dock, the fuelling station. Shepard took a quick glance at the unmade bed by his side and sighed, running both hands down his face to dispel the fatigue which ran through him. It didn't work as through bleary eyes, he gazed longingly at the field of stars which ran across the screen before him.

There was a soft tone as the lock was activated.

"Yep…" Shepard said, turning his chair to face the door. "…come in."

The door slid open with a slight hiss, the usual rumble of morning activity filling the room with sound. Kaiden snapped to attention by the door, standing rigid as Shepard nodded back.

"Joker requests your presence on the bridge Commander."

Shepard roughly rose to his feet. The screen behind him went black, the cartographer cancelling as he ended the programme with a flick of his hand.

"Why? This is a routine refuelling run."

"We're having comm. trouble. The Volus running the plant is failing to recognise us and is threatening to fire upon us should we get any closer." He said, still rigidly standing to attention.

"Mal must be going stir crazy out here. Too much time alone with his thoughts."

"He was pretty bad last time…" Kaiden said pointedly. "…he kept arguing with walls."

"Deep space can do that to you…" Shepard said, digging his feet into his boots before zipping them up "…all that time alone."

"Enough to drive anyone mad."

"Heavenly…" Shepard responded, with a small wistful smile. Kaiden raised an eyebrow. "…yeah, alright, I'm coming. Tell Joker not to get his legs in a twist."

"I heard that…" Joker retorted over the intercom.

"I thought I'd hacked the comm. link in my quarters so you couldn't do that any more…" Shepard said grumpily.

"Well, one rather experienced Quarian engineer dealt with that." Joker said smugly.

"Tali was in my room?" Shepard sound a little concerned at that point, looking upward as if Joker was perched above.

"While you, the L.T and Wrex were off dealing with the Feros colony…" Joker responded, a slight crackle of static causing his speech to distort slightly. "…she said it had a nice décor."

"Oh…" Shepard said in a small, far off voice.

"Anyway, any chance you could come up here. I've got a Volus trying to fill us with enough plasma to pop a Dreadnought. Talking him down would be helpful." Impertinently, the pilot snapped the comm. link closed. Shepard sighed, cracking his neck.

"So, how did you sleep Alenko?"

Kaiden, taken aback, stepped aside to let Shepard past.

"Ash was at the Krogan vodka again"

"Four again, was it?" Shepard said grimly as they stepped forth from his room door and into the chaos beyond.

"Three am…" Kaiden respond, his face haggard as the L.T closed Shepard's door behind him with a wave of his hand. The lock chimed but was lost in the noise as crew sprinted by, shouted orders rang across the mess hall. Shepard's ground team were bunched round the table, catching a quick breakfast Ashley shooting upright from her seat, hand snapping to the side of her head as Shepard approached.

"Commander on the Deck!"

"Sit down, Chief…" Garrus muttered as Shepard nodded in greeting. "…not a time to be astute to your duties."

"Moron…" Wrex rumbled as Shepard raised an eyebrow.

"I want all ground team members armoured and ready to go as soon as we drop." Shepard said sharply.

"Expecting trouble, Commander?" Garrus looked up from his meaty 'thing' he classed as a meal, his holographic goggle slotted backward over his head.

"I always expect trouble…" Shepard retorted "…this close to the Skyllian verge and this far into deep space too, there could be anything…" he softened slightly "…I haven't seen Mal this bad since those Pirates came down and took over his lower decks."

He moved on rapidly, Kaiden jogging to keep up. Wrex and Garrus exchanged glances as Ashley exhaled loudly and slumped back into her seat.

"Ready for anything, more like nearing paranoia." Wrex muttered as Shepard disappeared.

"It pays to be ready…" Garrus's mandibles twitched visibly at Wrex's comment "…and you can't talk. You're in full armour and fully armed each time we go to the Presidium. And the only thing to shoot up there is the synthetic wildlife."

"I'm paid to be ready and armed." Wrex grumbled as beside him Liara shook her head, disapproving at the Krogan's tone.

"Its deep space..." there was a slight slurp organic fluid as Tali looked up from her omni tool, a feeding pipe running up to her mask from a membranous container from which a oatmeal coloured fluid was emerging "…there is a large amount of bad people floating our around here, and I don't just mean Pirates."

"Reavers…" Garrus said in almost hushed tones, seemingly fearful that the nightmares Tali had mentioned were actually present, preparing to spring from their hiding places "…people of all races driven mad by some horrible event and now wander the stars."

"We're quite close to Reaver space…" Wrex muttered, not completely buying Garrus's fearful tone or invisible bogeymen "…but I doubt a few mad men will stand up to a fully equipped Alliance ground team."

"Reavers…?" Liara breathed as Tali shook her head at Wrex's hard words.

"They just hang out here waiting for lost ships. Then when a ship is spotted, they latch onto it, and decimate the crew. Some say they eat those who they capture. My Father always told me that they actually sell most of the captured to the Batarians."

"I doubt that…" Garrus stirred his cereal bowl with a slightly shaking hand "…the bodies C-Sec recovered when ships drifted into council space…ugh…" he paused, nauseated by the thought "…there was barely anything left. If something so animal could do that…I doubt any of the victims saw batarian space."

"Still, I'd wager that if I filled it with enough fire to pop a tank it'd stop…" Ashley said brashly as the others looked down at their breakfast, seemingly rather taken aback by Garrus's astrological bogeymen. "…Anyway. Time to quit been melancholy, you heard the Skipper. Get your stuff…" she smiled rather fiercely as Liara looked up, concerned. "…and _get set_."

* * *

"Could it be Reavers, Sir…" Alenko mused, his mind running along the same lines as Garrus as Shepard mounted the ramp onto the main bridge.

"Out here… it might have been if it wasn't for this seems like a basic trap, LT."

"You're right…" Kaiden looked directly ahead as through the viewing ports on either side of Joker's seat, Space whirled by as the vast sphere of the gas giant filled the view ahead. "…ambushes aren't their style."

"More screaming bloody murder…" Shepard paused as several gawping crewmen blocked their way. Shepard brushed past "…so, LT. Grace me with any conspiracy theories to where our little problem spawned from."

The reavers existence had always been a bit of a clouded theory. No one knew what the 'Reavers' were and no one had much clue to where such individuals had been made. The only thing all interested parties agreed on however, these 'beings' had been created. By appearance, they looked like usual creatures, both aliens and humans. But they appeared tribal, feral creatures who wandered space in packs. Cruel and warped, the Reavers had little interest in the affairs of the council and instead busied themselves swooping on small unsupported colonies, attacking both pirates and registered ships with no mercy.

"Ex-Lab subjects from Batarian Weapon research facility. A science project gone wrong." Kaiden stated, shrugging.

"Their moms' didn't hug them enough and their Daddies didn't get them what they wanted for Christmas and forgot their birthdays…" Joker added jovially as Kaiden sank down into the chair next to him "…this is the Reavers we're talking about isn't it?"

"Your scientific mind is a joy to see." Shepard said sarcastically as the pilot grinned upward, guiding the Normandy as he did.

"Just being a positive influence to the crew…" Joker replied with a grin, a stylus sticking at an angle from the corner of his mouth.

"Universal Eavesdropper more like..." Kaiden pulled up a diagnostic screen "…see Commander. We're picking up no distress beacons of any type and the heat signatures suggest there is one organic life form on board. Volus in origin, it's in the upper levels, in the control room by the looks of things."

"D'ravit…" that particular curse seemed rather out of place on the bridge of the Alliance ship as Shepard brought his head closer to the image. "…looks as if Pandorum has set in…" the blobs of heat were pacing up and down a space rapidly as the cold blue of the station caused the red to leap from the thermal image "…rapid nerve wracked movements, paranoia, hallucinations. Probably explains why he's trying to open fire on us."

"Great, a volus gone batshit with a high calibre ship killing mass cannon. Just what I need…" Joker swore, dispelling a warning light with a thumb as he steered the Normandy forward "…why do you always make friends with all the crazies in deep space."

"Normal is boring…" Shepard folded his arms and stood squarely, gazing at the screen above Joker's head "…no one listens to you. And the Deep Space bunch are always more fun to talk too."

"The deep Space bunch always seem to be the ones with the heavy weapons."

"Pandorum or no…" Kaiden turned the chair round to face the Commander. "…I get bad vibes from all this Commander."

"I certainly smell a Rat…" Shepard muttered, his cold grey eyes ever facing forward "...there has got to be something which spawns the paranoia. Most madness you usually gain from been effect pandorum is self flagellation or long moments of sitting and staring into space. Chakwas will always tell you that the mental state is self inflicted, something has to occur for him to become outwardly aggressive."

"Some one took another pop at him I guess…"

"Why does this always happen…" Joker grumbled as he brought the ship round, "…where ever we go there is always something that is unexplained or a mystery."

"Dunno…" Shepard shrugged unhelpfully as the refuelling station came into view. "…it kind of has a habit of following me around I guess."

The space station was made up largely of vast white helium fuel tanks, their sides covered with gantries and reinforcing struts. There were three in all, their sides covered with pipes as below the three tanks, a mass of metal pipes and capsules hung from a metal cradle, a vast reinforced but flexible tube resembling a human spine dropped down into the atmosphere of the planet below. Effectively harvesting the natural occurring gas, Shepard knew that below the cloud layer at the base of the tube, a smaller, heavily reinforced deep pressure station was working just out of site, its vents on full as it dredged the fuel from the planet's 'surface'. Fully Automated, the drones used in shallow Atmos were quite capable of resisting the many climatic conditions the Gas Giant threw at it. The habitation part of the Space station was of course high above all this and stuck length ways from the side of the fuel tanks. A long section of metal and dull orange plates, the habitation areas incorporated a small refining facility at the segment closest to the fuel pods while at the other end, several large rectangular pods, each joined by an array of tunnels were tacked onto the side. The spine of the station linked to each pod which ran parallel with the spine. This too was broken up by two pairs of slowly rotating 'arms'. And, at the furthest extremities of the ship, several docking bays waited for variety of sizes.

Shepard activated the comm. link with a sigh.

"This is SRV Normandy requesting permission to land and refuel."

Static was the only answer. Perturbed Shepard closed the link, leaning closer to the window to get a clear view of the spacestation. Only white walls glared back as Joker brought the ship in closer.

"Funny, he was talking to me a few minutes ago."

"I don't like this, Commander." Kaiden looked up nervously as the ship came in low, making for the nearest docking bay.

"Well, its either wait here and become Reaver food or refuel."

"This has been bad from the start Shepard…" Kaiden said, turning to look out the window beside him "…this is a dead star system. We've had ghosts in the machine since we dropped out of FTL. Those voices on Agelon, Phillips getting Pandorum, I doubt he'll be the same again, I don't think the albatross is on board."

"We'll be fine…" Shepard looked grimly at the side of the space station as they came in slowly, the brakes engaging as Joker coasted the last hundred metres. "…suit up. Ghosts or no, we're here for a purpose."

"I hope you're quick…" Joker spat the stylus out, the single black stick bouncing away across the floor "…'cause ole's Mal's heat signature just disappeared."

* * *

The dock struts whirred closed as the Normandy came to rest, a ramp extending from the upper gantries to the Entrance port another, high above the void, rolled on oiled wheels till it rested against the hold door. On the other side, Ashley slotted the helmet down around her head and knelt down by the door.

"Its Zero Gs on the other side. Something's knocked out the Eezo Fields and the Oxygen is out…" She took the rifle from her back "…who's had a firefight in Zero G?"

Tali, Wrex and Garrus all raised a hand, Garrus's helm falling into place as he checked his rifle. Liara looked slightly perplexed and focused intently on the back of her pistol.

"Typical…" Ashley sighed, impatient as the clamps which held the door in place shot back "…right, check your corners and watch your fire. An over heating rifle will make a shit storm get worse if your near an open pipe. I want shot guns at close range."

"What the hell am I supposed to do with a sniper rifle on a space station?" Garrus swore in Turian as he stashed his well cleaned rifle.

"Beats me…" Wrex almost hugged his shotgun as he snapped the safety catch off. "…bloody Turians."

If Garrus had eyebrows, he would have raised one. He instead fixed the Krogan with a flat glare.

"Right, Garrus and the Quarian are with me."

"My name is Tali."

"Whatever, its long and hard to pronounce…" Ashley snapped, waving the other aside "…Kaiden and Wrex, you're with the Commander."

"He wants Liara on the ground team…" Kaiden snapped his armour into place behind the small, uneasy huddle at the hold door "…we're going to see if we can talk Mal down before he does anything rash. Liara has a talent for talking us out of a tight spot."

"Fine…but who…."

"Phillips is back on active duty and Dredgeforth will be on the ground team that are over seeing the refuelling. Shepard wants you to take Tali and get the generator up and running. Life support has given out and we're reading no lights in most of the ship…"

He checked his pistol and slotted it onto his belt.

"…what're you planning to do if you run into anything down there."

"What, apart from old myths and fairy tales. I'm planning to shoot it."

"Chief."

"Politely…."

Kaiden sighed "Well make sure it can still walk and talk by the time you're done."

"Dark spaces, no air, no heating…" Garrus gazed levelly at the door as alarms began to flash around it "…lovely."

"Don't complain…" Wrex activated his rebreather with a hiss "…it'll put some hairs on your chest…so to speak."

"We're blowing the door in five…" Joker's magnified voice rang across the space as the Engineering department's doors were covered by two large bulkheads. The lift whirred closed, sealing itself as the hold dropped into the darkness. The entire space was bathed in a macabre crimson light.

Liara shivered, her breaths coming quick and hard behind her faceplate. This was not what she had in mind when Shepard had employed her. This was nothing like the dig sites and nothing like the worlds her mother had always hinted at. Fear was all that was out here, the worlds weren't as clean and well defined as she was lead to believe. Shepard was always a strange one though. She did feel great comfort in his presence, which was of course if you could see beyond the grey eyes. But something put her on edge, something about him that made her think differently.

But now was not the time to linger on such musings. Now was the time for action… which Liara hoped there would be a lack of. She shook her head to clear the troublesome thoughts and steeled herself as with a roar, the door fell forward.

"Ground Team Alpha forward…" Shepard chimed in as Ashley signalled Garrus and Tali forward "…deploy Ground Team Omega to my Six…deploy Ground Team Delta to Groundside. Good Business People."

Tali hit the metal hard and stooped low, her shotgun snapping into her shoulder pad. The small mass generator stuck to her back whirred, forcing a small, sputtering mass field around her body. Anchored, though not firmly, she paced forward, the tell tale ache of Zero G wastage burning through her limbs as she pushed forward, Garrus pacing beside her.

Ashley pushed off with surprising litheness, floating forward as she fiddled with her own mass field. Wrex trudged forward, his steps strangely light for his size, his boots clanking as the still pressurised environment beyond weighed heavily down upon him. Above his head, Shepard followed their progress from a high gantry, a sniper rifle deployed and ready in gloved hands as behind the N7 standard issue mask, his irises flicked from soldier to soldier.

"Sweep left squad Alpha, I want all doors cleared by the time we get to Mal."

"Aye, Skip."

Ashley stooped low, tapping a finger to the comm. unit slotted into her ear. Behind her Liara chanced a glance upward into the roof. Through the plate glass canopy, the stars were glimmering through the black. Shepard stood, on full view resplendent in his matt black armour, his sniper rifle ready. Wrex grunted behind, Liara realised she'd been frozen in position, staring up at the dark shape of Shepard high above. She moved on hurriedly.

On well armoured knee caps, Tali skidded the last metre, her thin fingers running over the panel beside the large bulkhead which blocked the progress into the rest of the facility.

"Simple Mechanism…" she buzzed into the comm. link "…we won't be needing the demo charges."

"Awww…" Wrex whined, mimicking a pout as he lent up against a crate, his shot gun ready "…but I wanna…"

"No…."

"C'mon."

"She's right, Merc…" Shepard buzzed in "…we're not wasting explosives, and such a blast could easily destabilize something vital. Let her open the door...politely."

"What, is that our buzzword today…" Kaiden complained vehemently from his position by the hold entrance "…politely…yey."

"Its better then 'whale', LT."

"That was a literary reference. Hitchikers guide to the galaxy…" Tali looked up from her work as Kaiden responded, two delicate digits wrapped around several bundles of whirring while with one thumb, she manipulated the omni tool. "…it was supposed to be funny."

"Funny…?" Ashley laughed loudly behind her visor "…that wasn't funny. Overly intellectual more like."

"You Humans are a disgrace." Wrex said flatly. Garrus shook his head, taking a quick glance round a corner and found nothing but wall staring back.

"Ok, then you come up with one then."

"Why exactly do you insist on doing this…" Garrus said pointedly "…you're a military organisation but you play games and have random buzzwords each day."

"You're just sore because Ugknot didn't go down well with the crew."

"You're an army. Act like it." Garrus respond forcefully, his own military back ground shining through quite fiercely. Tali didn't look up or add anything to the conversation, however, the speed with which she was working was lagging at best, the Quarian hanging onto every word.

There was a clank and door whirred open, stale air catching Tali's scarf, the hood falling back as she slid to one side to let the airlock clear out. Shepard grimaced behind his visor as the wind rushed by him, causing the soldier to tip backward slightly.

"The air lock was activated from the inside; the last thing to enter it was through the port. Nothing has come out since…" Tali chimed "…or there would have been no air still in the air lock." She stopped; Kaiden was gazing at her rather oddly. From behind the visor, the L.T's eyes registered puzzlement for a brief moment, staring intently at the curve of the Quarian's head through the reinforced woven exterior of the environment suit. Tali fingers immediately shot to her hood, pulling the dull coloured cloth up around her head.

"Something catch your eye, L.T?" Shepard rumbled. Kaiden scratching at the base of his neck as he shot Tali another quick look…he could have sworn…

"Nothing, Commander, just unusual to see the hood down that's all."

"Amateurs." Wrex shoved by and was gone into the dark. Kaiden shook his head and hurried forward, Garrus following as Ashley signalled Liara inside. Tali bent to scoop her shotgun from the floor, its well worn grip reassuring her own fractured nerves. She turned to take one last look at the Normandy before following the others inside.

The door closed with a hiss leaving the ship and her crew in the dark…

* * *

The space beyond was a miss mash of pipe work and bare wall. The lights were still on, Shepard dispelling the twin beacons on either side of his helmet. Zero G was still reading however, Shepard feeling the pull of his mass field as he stalked onward, swapping his sniper rifle for his assault rifle with a brief shrug of his shoulders. He could hear Ashley's sharp tones fizzling somewhere else on the comm. channel as well as Wrex's dull chuckles, making some anecdote or other.

His vision panned over the bare walls, the oil streaked pipes. The floors were extremely well cleaned, which figured really, space wasn't truly 'dusty' so to speak and abandoned corridors with no one entering them for years would be clean…obviously. His brain scolded him for being surprised, though his suspicion kicked it back into touch as sparkling side boards gleamed from an empty room, its door spilling a warm glow onto the corridor. Inside, a bed was made; its sheets neatly folded around the mattress as on the walls, pictures look on with unmoving eyes, a vase of some-kind of flower standing on a bedside table. The flowers were long dead, not surprising without anything to sustain them. Mal didn't operate a skeleton crew; he barely left his command centre apart from the occasional foray to visit to the planet below to inspect his only companions, an army of drones. Perhaps the loneliness suited him, Shepard had never asked, the grey bulk of the volus wandering the empty halls, talking to walls while the grave yard of the rest of the station remained untouched, as if held in stasis.

"Shepard!" Green tinted irises, brown tattoos, Shepard yelped, bringing his rifle to bear as something exploded from the opposite wall, grey armour clattering in the once un broken silence. Rough hands caught him as his foot caught on the door frame, tumbling backward away from the warm space of the frozen room and its unmade bed. Roaring in shock, Shepard lashed out his fist connecting with….scales?

Wrex rumbled warningly, Shepard retracting his fist from the side of the Krogan's face with an apologetic cough. Behind him, looking concernedly onward, Liara was lent up against a wall, her biotic talent causing the air around her to shimmer. And, at the door of the command pod, Alenko knelt, his hands in a fuse box as he tried to get the door open.

"Whats wrong Shepard…" Wrex muttered venomously "…not scared of ghosts are ye!"

"There was…" Shepard looked back. The corridor which branched onto this, the one he'd been following…was empty. The room door was still open, the well made bed still lit by the orange lights. "…nothing."

"I worry about you sometimes, Commander…" Kaiden strained against a stubborn fuse.

"I'm fine, just seeing shadows."

"Woooooooo…" Wrex rumbled, leering in Shepard's direction and gained a flat glare from the Commander.

"Stop it."

"Are you alright, Andrew?" Liara said concernedly as Shepard shivered visibly. He nodded grimly.

"Alright, enough with worrying about me…don't you all fegging dare start nursing me…" Shepard swore "…get back to work!!"

"Sir!" Wrex and Kaiden chorused, Kaiden at last opening the door with a fizzle of sparks as his omni-tool cancelled the programme and at last burned its way through the fusing round the exterior of the box. Wrex bundled through the door with no hesitation, pulling his shotgun from its position at the base of his hump and priming it. Through his well spaced reptilian eyes, he nearly had a 360 degree view of the room, the gun in his talons warm against the armour plates.

The room was a mess. Through the many consoles which dotted its cluttered space, paper and holographic tablets were scattered, their screens still blinking orange sigils as their batteries reached the end of their life. Across the walls, daubed in what appeared to be oil, words were written in thick, blocky letters. Words of a madman, Mal had certainly gone over the edge this time. Wrex activated his lights, the twin beacons on either side of the Krogan's helm lighting up the room, the many discarded food canisters suspended in the air, the remains of its contents scattered around in small globules of many colours.

"Powers out in here to. I'm reading no life signs Shepard." Wrex stepped forward, a meal can clanking off his suit and tumbling away into the space behind him. Kaiden knocked the canister aside as it cart wheeled by his head.

"Well, something was…that food was fresh."

"Just about…" Wrex wrinkled his nose "…Volus Fruit salad."

"You may be right…" Kaiden turned to watch the container slowly loop the loop. "…damn, you've gotta good sense of smell."

"From where I come from it pays to be." Wrex allowed the light to play over the walls, the lights barely illuminating the space around them "...Ogranox is a fifty tonne load'a muscle powered by a brain the size of a turian's right nut. Excretes oil across its skin to protect it from the sun. Stinks from a mile off."

"Lovely…" Kaiden said, rolling his eyes as he watched the container roll away in slow motion, his torch following its progress across the room. "…I'll remember that the next time decided to hunt large, over powered and dim carnivorous creatures. That's always what people want isn't it, to go and watch something that is more likely to eat your face then play nice."

It floated on into a wide space where several major consoles were attached to a large hard drive system, Kaiden's eyes lingering on it more then he should before it floated down, obviously caught in some draft from a faulty pipe or console cooling device. And bounced off a hand which stuck at an angle from a fallen console….and it was twitching…Kaiden jolted backward, bowling into Wrex as he caught his foot on a fallen console. Wrex had to catch a wall with one hand as Kaiden windmilled desperately in the air. Wrex dragged him down with a throaty chuckle, nodding to Shepard as the Commander ducked through the small entrance.

"We've found Mal."


	6. Book 1: Pandorum

Welcome back to the Adventures of the ever sarcastic Commander Andrew Shepard, ex-AODT, ex-Normal Soldier and SPECTRE. His methods are unorthadox, his crew decidedly rugged and he's not exactly hero material. But he gets the job done, even if he is a little mercenary. He cannot understand women, spends time with his machines more then his social life, gets drunk, reads newspapers and loves coffee, specially in the early mornings.

As well as a Combat Drone called Gadget...

Welcome to my rather dark, gritty, gore-filled take on the Mass effect universe.

Well, next chapter up. It has been a while since i updated, Mass Effect 2 coming out and all as well as keeping up with Uni work as set me back a little. Still, loving Mass Effect 2, though Tali is still my Favorite Character. Still, the story continues, please read and review. Hope you enjoy.

Oh, and for the record, Mass Rifles can fire in space, usual firearms can't due to lack of oxygen, and the then add a whole bucket full of science. I guess that due to the rifles been fired through use of Dark Matter and Gravity and not heat, as said in the galactic codex, Mass Rifles can be discharged in space. Also note that for this story, there is no noise in space.

Ooof, gotta love the techno babble :).

Tharagon

* * *

"Oh great, just what I need. A big, grey marble pigeon crap magnet"

_(__Commander Shepard upon visiting his memorial on Elysium 3 years after the destruction of Normandy SR1)_

_

* * *

_

Shepard disengaged his boots and floated forward, catching several consoles as makeshift hand holds. His boots drifting beside Alenko's head, the Commander came to a halt beside the twitching hand "…Mal, what did I tell you last time. You really need to stop operating in zero-G Environements."

"He's dead, Commander."

"I know…" Shepard said sorrowfully "…how long would you guess?"

"Five minutes at best. The heat signature blinked out just as we came in…" Kaiden said, his voice guarded.

"Which would also mean that the zero – g only kicked in a matter of minutes ago. He was killed by his console and whole place went dark…" Shepard tapped the finger which stuck directly up from the wreckage. "…not a warrior's death at all."

"A warriors death for a volus?" Wrex crackled back incredulously.

"May the Black take you Mal…" Shepard said, ignoring the Krogan. Wrex turned away grumbling as Shepard continued "…They may burn the land and boil the sea, but you'll still be free."

"Amen." Kaiden dug his shoulder into the console and allowed the volus to float clear. Shepard shook his head as across the comm. link, someone whispered.

"_That's beautiful…"_

"You getting all sentimental, Williams?" Sheapard activated his mass field and clanked down onto the metal floor.

"Hmmm, what?" Ashley's blunt tones were most unlike the soft words which had fizzled through the link and Liara was still behind him…Shepard furrowed his brows.

"What are we going to do with him, Shepard."

"Push him out the nearest Airlock. Have Joker torch his corpse, I think it would be fitting. I'm not leaving him floating there for some critter to make him into an easy meal."

"555 sir."

A console flashed, its still glowing interior lighting the walls around it. Holographic images struggled to come into being as its badly damaged hard drive fizzled and emitted sparks. It was a emitting a dull hissing noise, smoke drifting from its underside. Shepard clanked forward, his hands, reaching for the holographic display.

"…..shepard…..crrrk….men of metal….lights for heads….lower levels…..must stop them….she's here….running…..Malara….a message……I can't…." Shepard's breath caught in his throat as he activated the audio file.

"Running Audio File One…" the console chimed, startling Wrex. There was a brief crackle and a much more throatier voice, sounded clearly, even through the damaged speakers.

"…this is Captain Malc Reynolds of the Space Station White Church. Last ship just left, its just me and the crew. The station seems so empty now, but I can see pretty pictures on the planet below…" Shepard skipped the next five minutes of babble with a flick of his finger "…stars are pretty here, I can see the Blinking Galaxy out of my port window. Anyway, I've probably bored enough people with my ramblings, who ever will read this I don't know, but I apologise for boring you." Shepard grimaced and activated another glowing panel on the flickering image.

"Running Audio File 35…" there was a crackle of static before Mal's voice rejoined them once again "…This is Captain Malc Reynolds. A Quarian just left, refuelled his little ship and then disappeared into the Abyss. He asked me to store some crates for him in the lower levels too, seemed a nice enough sort so I let him, for a price…" Grating laugher followed, Mal finding the joke highly amusing. "…I let him store it in hold 43. Didn't get a great glimpse of it but it stank of old, I'm keeping my nose out of it. The Quarian is bad business, makes by feet twitch and that's always a bad sign. Anyway, the drones need a good look at…this is Captain Reynolds signing off."

"Quarian?" Wrex, clanked up beside Shepard, his blunt helmet swinging round to the console beside the audio bank. "…out here and with a ship?"

"Its not that strange…" Shepard manipulated the image once again "…the pilgrimage can take you a long way from well travelled space."

"This sounds more like desperation grown out of stupidity."

"Or stupidity mixed with desperation…" Shepard found the next file amidst a field of corrupted data "…there could be all sorts of reasons."

"Running Audio File 67…This Captain Malc Reynolds…" Mal sounded a little more strained, tired perhaps. "…the days are dragging now. I'm beginning to wonder if this is truly a good idea. A human spectre…" Shepard felt his neck prickle "…came aboard today. Nice sort, a soldier to the core and seemed one to follow orders. Refuelled and left. I can't stand seeing people leave…I don't want this anymore…"

There was a slight fizzle. "…this is Mal….i can't…something….beating on the hull, I can't ignore them any more, they're all around me…."

"By the goddess…." Liara breathed. "…that's Pandorum talking, he's loosing his mind, becoming trapped in his own body."

"They're coming…their teeth they gnash and rend and chew and rend….headlight eyes in the lower levels. I can't stop them…"

"Williams!!" Shepard said forcefully into the comm. unit, his eyes widening as the last rasping breaths of the Volus echoed across the space. Nothing responded, just the fizzle of static. Shepard swore, his bouncing backward off the console. A light broke from its bindings with a rattle and in the bouncing, flowing illumination, the writing which once hid in the shadows blazed out for all to see.

WE CANNOT GET OUT

* * *

"Damn…!!" Shepard burst out into the corridor, Wrex struggling after him as across the station, lights began to go out, one by one.

All Tali saw was white lights then the hold went dark. Obviously panicked Garrus was caught her with a flailing arm, the armor digging hard into her ribs, even with the energised weaving. Ashley was charging forward as Tali caught her self, screaming profanities as several Geth burst from cover, their rifles spitting hot death. Tali prepped the shotgun, jolting forward, the muzzle flare her only guide. It was a light filled hell, the air filled with metal, monstrous shadows playing over the walls with each shot, with each flashlight head. The darkness was welling up around her as the clattering of metal claws slammed into the bulkheads and packing crates.

She discharged her shotgun into the 'face' of one of the geth attackers, the round shredding its head with one shot. Another, its fingers clawing for her broke up from the floor. It was covered in rusted sheets of metal, its flashlight head filling her world, blinding her in such intense light. Tali punched it, her suit taking most of the impact as her closed fist shattered its spinal column. Her breaths were coming short and quick now, even for her age, the cool calculating mindset of her race, engineers at heart took over. With a wave of her hand, a geth shrieked, its gun overloading with bang as the smell of burning metal wafted over the space. Tali dropped down onto one knee, blasting another to pieces as it leapt a small crate, its rifle ready.

Shepard had equipped her with high explosive rounds and the shot gun made short work of the geth troopers as they sprinted toward her cover. He'd also dragged her from Hell Hole to hell hole in pursuit of Saren and his Geth. Shepard had Twigged that when it came to Synthetics, technical experts were of most help. He'd never told her that, but Shepard's own love of machines coupled with his engineering background had raised a lot of curiosty between Shepard and the youngest crew member, albeit a little gruff at times. But Tali still felt something, behind those grey eyes, his soul danced quite clearly, though not everyone could penetrate the rather hard exterior. There was a rapid rattle of boots as, panting, Ashley skidded to a halt beside her.

"Intel Dropped the Ball! Looks like the Normandy didn't pick these son's of bitches up!!" She yelled, rising briefly to rip apart another Geth soldier.

"Where's Garrus!!?" Tali checked her omni tool, activating her lights.

"He'll be fine, saw him making for the entrance….coward." Ashley sneered, slotting the assault rifle back against her chest, the Hydra Heavy Armour clanking as the gun stock pressed up against it.

"I saw an airlock on the way in, big hatch, big load out. Powered down…" Tali's consciousness back pedalled rather quickly at this last comment as the small, little girl her father had always referred to her as looked on with a vaguely shocked expression. "…if I can blow the door, power or not, it'll suck these abominations out into space. The Geth aren't best designed for zero-gs and deep space, they're even struggling in here, they're having to crawl to get to us!!."

"Easy footing I guess!!" Ashley yelled over a roar of a missile launcher as Geth Juggernaut unloaded it's payload into their cover. Tali rolled aside, as did Ashley as the box disintegrated.

"Go for it…" Ashley shrugged off several pieces of debris, her face mask covered in dark stains from a glancing blow from a piece of plastic. "…freeze these bastards!!!"

"Aye Aye Chief!"

Tali broke cover in a hail of Mass Rounds, several bouncing off her shields with a blast of blue light. At the base of her spine, the heavily modified shield modulator groaned under the renewed pressure. Breaking through the packing crates, a shadow became imeadietly apparent as a red armoured giant powered forward, its eye piece glowing ominously through the black. But it wasn't carrying a rifle…A vast metal fist slammed into the side of her face. Tali felt her entire world shift as she bounced off the floor, the zero – g's carrying her Juggernaut brought its head down level with her grime stained breathing mask, its boot smashing into her abdomen. Shrieking, the Quarian emptied another metal slug from her pistol into its armour plating, its shields having failed under deluge of blue light which ripped it apart from Ashley's gun. Her suit's exoskeleton was barely holding, the kinetic barriers fizzling about her body as they failed one by one.

"_Tali'Zorah…" _Over the noise of battle, the thing spoke in a semblance of language, its words grating and rough as it screeched and warbled its way through syllables. _"…I know you."_

Tali's fist tore a hole in its face plate before the Geth had chance to react, emptying a lot of white fluid over her face mask. The synthetic tumbled away as cursing, Tali rolled to her feet, her fingers wiping the disgusting fluid from her vision. Ashley watched with her mouth open as the synthetic material covered Quarian rolled into cover. She was still staring open mouthed at the white covered fist, Tali's three digits curled round in what appeared to be a fist as the adrenaline began to wear off, Tali's hands shaking after the effort.

"How in hell did you manage to do that!!!"

"Servo Motors…?" Tali said, waveringly.

"Doesn't matter…!" Ashely shook her head "…get that door open!!"

"On it!!" Tali said shrilly, avoiding another questioning glare from Chief Williams. There was a warbling shriek of noise from midst the Geth Ranks. Standing head and shoulders above the Geth, the Prime looked on with cold satisfaction, its face expressionless though its stance, its body language seemed so….human. Ashley ducked low as at her back, Tali sprinted for the Air Lock door, the holographic consol beside it still alight.

"Quarian….." She said through gritted teeth "…don't mean to rush you but…"

"Don't call me that…Give me a minute…" She wrenched the metal circuit box cover off with a quick flick of her fingers "…just need to find the red wire."

"Quarian…"

"Keelah!! Don't call me that…Hang on…!!" her fingers dove into the mass of wires, each loose end sparking as the omni tool severed each thread "…old trashy volus system…not enough parts, damn that infernal eezo capacitator"

"Faster….!!!" Ashley planted her legs firmly and opened fire into the space beyond, her teeth gritted behind her re-breather mask as the Geth Prime reared above her head "…faster! Faster would be better!!"

The door blew open with a howl of wind, dragging packing crates from their stations and tipping them into space. Tali, her scarf held to her head by one firmly placed hand, shrieked as a crate slammed hard into her back. Her armour held, barely…

Ashley went skidding backward, her hand finding a handle dug into the floor as Geth tumbled by, their cries drowned out by the sudden loss of pressure. Over the comm. link Tali got the faint jist of what Ashley was shouting, something along the lines of:

"…" Nothing truly not worthy followed, nothing worth jotting down in her personal logs once she was home anyway. It was coarse, something she expected of quite a few gung-ho alliance soldiers. But it was certainly not out of place here.

The Prime tore by, its hands grasping desperately for a hand hold as it was tipped into deep space. She didn't feel any remorse for its passing. Another foul creation of her people once more died and she was happy. A packing crate caught it squarely on its chest, the resulting force removing any hope of stopping its helpless tumble.

More Geth passed by, their cries lost to the black as Tali watched, her eyes narrowing to slits behind her visor as on the other side, Ashley struggled to pull herself up.

"Chief Williams!!!!"

"I'll be fine, Quarian!!"

"My name is Tali!!!!!!" Tali shrieked, wiping stringy synthetic fluid from her visor. When vision returned, Williams was gone.

Tali rose yelling as beyond the confines of the airlock, Chief William's waved her arms franticly, her eyes wide behind her visor as her rifle tumbled away, her movements panicked. Beside her, the culprit, a lose packing crate floated by. Ashley desperately clawing at its flat surface, trying to gain some purchase on it's mottled orange surface. Beyond that was shear nothingness, Tali's breath caught in her throat as she looked desperately round for something she could…

"Move!!!" Shepard bulled past, leaping from the air lock with a massive blast of frozen air, the particles of a high pressure fire-extinguisher expelling from his grip as the force blasted him out into space. Within the confines of his suit, several alarms began to ring as a dull hissing noise filled his ears. He caught which some force, his legs swinging round beneath her. Nothing was below, Shepard ignoring the first signs of Space Awe, as Alenko called it. It was a very very long way down or up or sideways. Now wasn't the time to go into physics, Shepard's mind scolding his own demand to think through everything. He caught her webbing with one hand, eyeing the frost which was slowly gathering on the black material.

Back in the hold, Wrex rumbled an expletive in Krogan, sealing the door into the rest of the station behind him. Through red slitted eyes behind the optics of his helmet, he saw the Commander, hanging helpless like a fish caught on a line and shook his head, nonplussed as always.

"What in hell is he doing out there?"

"How long will those suits last out there…!!?" Tali ignored the previous comment, gesturing forcefully at the struggling Humans. Over the comm., Shepard was explaining to Ashley why exactly she had to calm down in a slow, throaty voice, trying not to panic the rather space shy gunnery chief.

"Oxygen time of an hour, the pressure however will tear through them in around fifteen minutes…" Alenko buzzed in "…give me a minute, we're just relaying power."

"Plenty of time then…" Wrex sent grimly "…though I'm more suited for this role…why are you covered in geth blood."

"Long story…" Tali said quickly, her eyes never leaving the commander.

Something was wrong…Shepard's suit began to chime rather alarmingly as the throaty hiss began to rise in volume. Ashley was still struggling under his arm as he ejected a slug from the fire extinguisher and jolted backward. It was slow, but at least they were heading in the right direction. But something was still terribly wrong…his breaths were coming shallower, something constricted across his chest. Struggling to breath, he looked on in horror at the several streams of escaping air which broke from several segments of his suit.

Loss of Pressure…Shepard's keen mind clicked as he ran over the consequences. Time slowed, the air became less as Shepard froze. Loss of Pressure….equals loss of air…equals loss of oxygen…human body unable to survive in non pressure conditions…blood burst from veins…eyes…blindness….ears burst….deafness…painful…unless suffocation comes first. He swore…that wasn't good. And they were going too slowly…Shepard blinked as his eyes watered…but it wasn't moisture which floated away a splattered against the inside of his helmet. Crimson fluid spattered liberally across the interior.…

Shepard began to roar in pain. Wrex looked up as the commander began to writhe in space, his legs kicking as he franticly clamped his hands over his visor, as if clawing at eyes below. Ashley struggling to separate herself from him, her own suit not erupting air as she wrenched Shepard's webbing, trying to get the commander ever closer to the door…Shepard was nearly screaming…it was truly a horrible thing to hear as Tali gasped, her hand shooting upward to her comm. unit, her other hand reaching for her tool kit.

"What in hell…" Wrex looked on as the Commander twisted, his movements becoming more and more panicked as he rolled toward them.

"Can't you see he's obviously in pain!!? Something's gone wrong…!!!!" Tali cast around as she searched for something….anything. "…someone, help him!!!"

"Damn it!!" Wrex bolted forward, covering the few metres which separated Shepard from the interior of the ship. The Krogan, slammed into the struggling human, one hand wrapping round Shepard's reinforced collar. The other activated his shot gun and in a blast of blue light, the noise stolen by the empty void, shot backward.

* * *

Shepard woke in a pain wracked hell. Above him, Liara mouthed something, her face wet with tears as Shepard was dragged by. The hall lights hurt…that wasn't good.

There was flashes of darkness, a vast black blip which blocked his sight kept coming back. Faces looked on from the black, Mason's grizzled expression looking on, the flash of green tinged eyes of the Asari he'd dragged from the rain filled streets.

_What was her name…?_

"Get his helmet off…!!"

The air lock lights were painfully bright, there was a click and hiss as his helmet was pulled off, Shepard gagging, his back bending as his body constricted. He wasn't breathing, that wasn't…..wasn't….everything dimmed and went black.

"…Kaiden, get the med packs in here. Wrex, dig the Crash kit from my locker. Someone get Tali out of here now, she's getting in the way!"

He woke again…he must of blacked out. The Normandy, his ship, his halls, his lights…Chakwas was leaning over him, shining a light in a his eyes. He pushed it away, someone yelling as his hand met hard scale like skin, people rushed by panicked….then nothing…a brief flash…Kaiden was yelling something…it sounded as if he was calling through plate glass….then nothing….just words amidst the blackness.

"I'm not reading any life signs; heart has stopped beating….i need that Crash Cart Wrex!"

"Give me a minute…"

"Stat…" there was a far off whine…as if at the far end of a tunnel, the echos burning through Shepard's mind. Then a shock, a sharp zap, something hit him like a train, static buzzing off the metal sides of the gantry he was on. And then it all didn't sound so far off…still hurt like hell, however.

"We've got a pulse."

"Ooof…remind the Commander I am not doing that _again"_

The Med bay lights were blinding. Crimson lights covered his eyes, their paths…horrible…and then, through the red hell…through the pain….his hearing returned and all he heard…gasped in such horror…Dr Chakwas's clear voice extremely audible which filled Shepard's mind with dread…

"…oh dear god….his eyes."

* * *

Tali barely moved. She was seated on a loose packing crate in one of the long sweeping corridors of the space station. Her shotgun rested across her knees as beside her, the tubing which led to the refuelling array aboard the Normandy, gurgled in its cradle. She didn't look up as Wrex clanked past, Alenko following as they dropped into the lower levels. Kaiden looked on with caution as Tali sunk her chin into her chest and lent back.

Probably not the best time to be disturbing her…there was a soft tone as she activated her omni-tool, the quick flash of eyes behind the visor the only movement before a single thin digit stirred the holographic panel. A thin wailing music echoed across the space as Tali lent her head back, staring at the ceiling, her thoughts her own. Behind the mask, Alenko got the impression of a single glittering flash which emerged from beneath her eyes, but it was gone. Must have been a figment of his imagination.

Wrex clanked on, his eye pieces glowing in the darkness as he moved. The rumble of pipes filled the air around him, memories of Tuchanka fizzling back into being as he moved on through the tight corridors.

"Do you think she's ok…?" Alenko said, taking a quick glance over his shoulder to where the Quarian still sat. Wrex grunted unhelpfully, Alenko continuing even with the Krogan's lack of interest "…I mean you can never tell with her with that mask she's wearing."

"It really makes little difference. Events sometimes must be left behind or we may always be caught up in the past." The Krogan said sagely, unslinging his shot gun as they navigated another dark piece of corridor.

"That's very poetic, especially from you."

"It's the Krogan way. I am not a savage. I want to kill, to maim, to destroy, but I am not solely reliant on violence. Killing is just as much a philosophy as what your people call Zen."

"You're very well learned for a Krogan."

Wrex sighed. In all his time on the Normandy, the small spaces had seemed quite a home. Even with slightly blank faced Kaiden Alenko who constantly challenged him to debates or the gruff, hard and battle scarred Commander. It was of some annoyance, Wrex had never had….friends…so to speak. Back Home, there were pack mates and they all looked out for themselves. Here, Shepard left no man behind. Wrex liked the Commander. Like Wrex, Shepard had a near impenetrable mental wall built around him. To be close to Shepard…was like trying to hug a star-ship. It just wasn't happening. Liara wanted him; Ash respected him immensely, even if the Commander seriously laid into her at every single opportunity.

"We're not all savages human, just as you are not all a pale skinned, weak willed excuse for a species."

"Ooookay…" Kaiden rolled his eyes; glad the Krogan's hump obscured Wrex's vision. "…hey Wrex."

"What….Human."

"Just a thought I just had…"

"Amazing, a something can exit that thick skull of yours."

"Shut Up…Wrex, I was wondering, what exactly do you do when you're not killing. I know you hang around the hold all day when not out on missions."

"Varren."

"What?"

"I watch Varren fighting matches when we make landfall. I bet and I win. Other then that, itsnoneofyourbusiness "

"Wrex…"

"What!" Wrex rumbled, annoyance flaring in his tone.

"You're really smarter then people think."

Wrex didn't respond, a large clawed mitt thudding into Kaiden's chest. His lights were panning upward as surprised; Alenko followed the twin illuminations. Blue blood dribbled down the walls. Kaiden recognised the thing which dwarfed the crossing point between four corridors. Images of eden Prime all over again ran through his mind as the thing became apparent. The spines, the Husks.

"Dragon's Teeth…" Alenko breathed "…the Geth must of brought them with them."

"It's not just that." Wrex rumbled. A truly horrific sight awaited them. The tip sticking through her torso was covered in blood, her face torn in an expression of such agony that Alenko felt his stomach curdle at the sight, her arms limp as the steady drip of blood stained the floor beneath her. There, a barbaric spectacle was a single blue skinned asari.


	7. Book 1: They said it was suicide

_Right, its been a while, but heres the next chapter. Sorry for taking so long, though the amount of Faves i've been getting as well as story alerts, i must say i'm pretty encouraged to write more...once i finished my Uni work that is. But here it is. Its a little long, there was a lot to fit into this chapter so be patient. But its pretty action packed. The AODTs are back...

* * *

_

"Any mention of Tea, Cricket or bad dentistry and i swear by my fishes' small scaly hides, i will end you."

Commander Shepard during the first crew meeting aboard the Normandy SR 2.

* * *

They called it 'The Wailing Planet' for a good reason. Shepard squinted through the ocean spray as the wind howled through the water carved rocks which stuck like accusing fingers from the grey/green sea far below. The pilot of the small dropship gunned the engines as they swept in low, the sea rolling by below as silver flashes broke the surface. Scavengers, probably, coming to feast on the dead bodies which were soon going to choke these waters. Through the open doors of the Troopship, more Troop Ships were skimming the wave tops, their blunt noses pushing downward as the angular troop compartments were open to the elements, soldiers seated with their legs hanging over empty air and the sea far below. Like clumsy birds of prey, their running lights reflecting off the water far below, they surged on leaving the air rippling in their wake.

Shepard dug himself back into his seat, the harness pulling tight around him as with one armoured gauntlet; he tugged at the thick material. Beside him, Charlie Mason swung his legs, attempting to get blood back into his extremities as in the seat next to him, Frank cracked his neck and lent forward in his seat, gazing unflinchingly at the sea far below.

"ETA two minutes." The pilot was barely audible over the engines and the spray as more ships came into view, fighters mainly, keeping at a distance, their thinner, barbed shapes ploughing through the troughs left by the waves. Shepard took a deep breath, his rebreather hissing and clicking as high above, the Third Moon of Pandorus glared down on them, its shape, but not its light filling the sky high above them.

It was nearly midday, the sky speckled with long fingers of grey cloud, obscuring what was left of the day light. Ahead, coast line was coming into view; Shepard could see the walls of gun emplacements, the water playing across the beach, the scattered boxes and wreckage that covered the once golden sands. He could see the palm trees and old boulevards, the burned out manors and villas. Those were once people's homes…and now they were burned out shells. Shepard narrowed his eyes through the slit of his visor. He could see the thick concrete walls which now dwarfed the town, bunkers set into their sides as high above, the energy shield which prevented any direct assault fizzled in the sun light.

Shepard let his head sag. Around them, twenty platoons of the 5th and 7th Battalion powered their way across the storm tossed seas, fighters darting around them to protect them from any ground fire. High above, waiting like beasts under some storm wracked ocean, a Turian Frigate hung ready, its jets burning the cloud layer as around it, Alliance Frigates and fighters were a blur.

There was a rumble of engines, Shepard jolting backward as a large troop carrier blasted past. Unlike the one he was strapped into, its troop bay was replaced by a large pair of hydraulic claws, a Deathwatch Ground Tank held in its iron grip as under the rounded glass canopy which ran down the rounded nose of the ship, it's pilots were busy at work, holographic displays playing out around them as they dropped low, diving down to once again brush the wave tops.

"Charlie…" Shepard said forcefully, dragging his eyes from the iron sea.

"Hmmm…Sarge?" Charlie looked up, massaging his thigh through the armour as Shepard turned to him.

"I want you all to survive."

"That's what I was planning on doing, Sarge..." Charlie said, gamely. "…if I died, who'd keep an eye on your sorry arse."

"Hah…" Shepard said, gripping the harness. "…I would be screwed…"

"Hell yeah, Sarge."

"I want standard formation when we get down there. No heroics. I'm getting a bad feeling about this…"

"Standard Formation….running like hell. You always get bad feelings…." Frank flicked a droplet from the end of his nose "…don't worry about it. Paranoia comes with job description. We'll keep an eye out."

Below, the sea was hurtling by, the waves becoming a blur as the final descent began, the engines rising in pitch as the streets, the beaches and the abandoned houses, where many people had once quite happily holidayed began to flow into view. Shepard dug himself into his chair, his stomach flipping as they swooped lower, buoys appearing the water below. He hated the troopships; the cumbersome fight-craft had no use in combat situations anymore. He felt like a sitting duck, his legs dangling over the sea far below. Pods were always the way forward, too small to see, too damn fast to get a target. This was like a hammer to the Drop pods scalpel. He sighed; he really wished that he was back in that cramped pod. There he would be safe, there he would be…

The troopship ahead exploded as the sky suddenly lit up with violent shades of blue, the ground below now coming alive with movement. Immediately the speed increased, Shepard could taste the salt in the air, the spray on his face as violently, the troopship twirled in space, ignoring the wreckage which now rained down from the sky. Shepard swore as burning chunk of metal bounced off the wall beside him and catapulted out into the sea.

"THAT WAS ALPHA TEAM ONE…!!!!!" Mason was screaming over the roar of engines and crack of cannon fire as the air was filled with burning fragments….and body parts, Shepard felt a fine mist, which certainly wasn't sea water, spray over his mask, the troopship pitching to one side as missile roared by. "…THAT WAS RAMSEY!!! HE DIDN'T DESERVE THAT!!!! THOSE SONS OF BITCHES!!!"

"COOL IT CORPORAL…!" Shepard roared grimly over the noise. "…THERE'S GOING TO A FEGGING LOAD MORE IF YOU GO OFF ON ONE OF YOUR REVENGE MISSIONS!!"

"But…Sarge." Mason fixed Shepard with an almost tear filled glare, blood running down the grey face plate and the yellow corporals stripe which ran from shoulder to hand on his right arm. Shepard's own blue stripe was covered with the vile substance, he was well aware of that, but for now, while missiles screamed by and the pilot screamed over the intercom, now really wasn't the time.

"Calm it corporal...!" he took one quick look ahead "…They're dead, Charlie…" Shepard said firmly, bring his helmet close to his subordinate "…yelling about it isn't going to bring them back. I need you to focus on the mission ahead, understand,"

"A…..a…." Mason sagged, his body sinking into his chair "…a….affirmative, Shepard."

* * *

"Shepard's Down!!!" The med bay door hissed open rapidly as Kaiden and Wrex pushed through, the twitching body of the commander caught between the two as they roughly man handled him.

"Get his helmet off…" Chakwas immediately became very alert, her voice gaining a whole new sharpness as Shepard was dumped unceremoniously onto the table "…Kaiden, get the med packs in here. Wrex, dig the Crash kit from my locker. Someone please get his helmet off NOW!!!"

Liara's slim digits worked the clasp on either side of Shepard's face plate, the armour coming away with a hiss. His face was a ruin, blood ran free from his tear ducts as the tell tale blue shade of oxygen starvation played over his half frozen face. Shepard wasn't breathing…Liara moaned in what could easily be descried as pure sorrow, her face paling as she was pushed aside by Dr Chakwas.

"Dr T'soni, I would advice standing back if you cannot be of assistance in this matter."

"Shepard……i…..i…I'm so sorry." The asari mumbled as the med bay descended into chaos.

"I'm not reading any life signs, heart has stopped beating….i need that Crash Cart Wrex!"

"Give me a minute…" a large white box was dumped onto the table by Chakwas's hand. "…here ya go"

"Kaiden, try to plant the gel packets onto his eyes. I'm seeing hell of a lot of bleeding from the tear ducts, his capillaries must of burst. If we pull him out of this, I want him to see my handiwork."

"He will get out of this…" Liara almost shrieked as she was shoved away, Ashley taking her gently and firmly by the shoulders and leading her away "…won't he?"

"His Heart's stopped!!" Chakwas, slammed her fist into Shepard's chest and began pumping furiously. Wrex, rubbing the paddles together as the kit sparked and whined.

"Stat!!" Shepard jolted on the table, arm's flailing wildly as Kaiden struggled to restrain. In the hush that followed, Shepard drew one long, reasping breath. Even if the Commander was still unconscious, at least her was breathing. The display behind Wrex showed a strong, steady heart beat, Shepard's vitals were checking out ok too, several holographic sigils flashing up before the Doctor's hands as she worked. Chakwas took a long breath and leant back against the adjacent table, Wrex dropping the two paddles back into their box his face still showing the squat, froglike appearance of a bored Krogan.

"So what now?"

"Leave him to sleep. It could be hours or days before he comes to…" Chakwas ran a hand over her face, fatigued "…Humans aren't designed for space…" Wrex looked vaguely perplexed as the Doctor spoke "…no back up nervous system or organs, Wrex." She continued, patting the Krogan on the arm.

"Can he feel anything in there?" Kaiden scratched at his jaw, eyes never leaving the wreckage of the Commander's face. Chakwas shooed him away as she pulled several guaze pads from a dispenser, a sachet of medi-gel dropping over the table.

"No…" Chakwas lent close to Shepard's face, noting the blood on the skin around the eyes "…all he's going to do is dream. I hope it's a nice one."

* * *

…and they were in, plunging into the sea below. Shepard hit the water hard, the initial shock of the landing, and at such depth. And he was out of his depth…through the clear, water, men struggled, their armour dragging them down as their re-breathers failed, the water too much for the filters to handle. Rounds passed by in slow motion, Shepard still struggling as the bottom hit his boots, the surface seeming so far away. The troopship, their troopship was still burning, blazing even under the water as the blue fire from its engines set the water frothing….and the pilots under their glass canopy screaming to get out, beating their palms against the plate glass. A man and a woman…the woman had brown hair and blue eyes. Shepard looked on with wide eyes as he floated backwards, her eyes forever locked on his as she was dragged down into the depths…the tail lights of the troopship still blinking as it went down.

Something tugged at his webbing, his Aegis Class Suit's collar jamming hard into his chin as the unexpected pull knocked his head forward. She still stared from the window of the troopship, her eyes wide, skin pale as the water doused her black jump suit, pleading as the consoles blinked out. Shepard kicked out, disturbing the dirt of the ocean floor, the scrap metal which had rained down from the falling troopships cutting through the clear water. _Maybe he could reach her, wrench her from that glass canopy, but he was just one man…_. Around him, other soldiers twisted and turned, some successfully pushing from the sea floor, their feet kicking dust into the water around them. Others, the rookies probably were still stuck to the sea floor, their arms grasping for the air high above. Even amongst those, there were those who were horribly still, their arms limp like dolls, their heads bowed or forever gazing upward to a world they would never reach.

The thing which had him by the collar, he realised, was another soldier, his armour covered with glistening droplets of air which collected in the many segments of his armour, a single white line running down his left arm. And he was kicking out for the surface, leaving the bodies, the panicked soldiers and the two dead pilots…Shepard wished he'd learned their names. To at least remember them…a common courtesy. But they were all forgotten in the end. There would be no statues, the soldiers merely a number, a flag to be delivered to a grieving family. Even amidst such chaos, Shepard felt his heart sink, his arms spread like as weed moved lazily around his feet. Above, the surface of the ocean seemed to be on fire, the light causing the distorted surface to glow hellishly.

And it was hell above….Shepard broke the water's surface to a screaming, desperate world. Troopships, their engines burning bright blue came screeching down from the spray filled air, their troop bays gaping as soldiers spilled into the water or onto the beach. And the noise….bullets winnowing by, the shouts of the team leaders, the cries of the wounded, the crack of cannon fire. A blast of blue light erupted with a noise that put Shepard's teeth on edge, a soldier roaring in pain as he was lifted bodily into the air and tossed aside like a toy.

Shepard found his feet, the sand digging into his boots as his rescuer dragged him clear of the water. They staggered into the safety of a destroyed Troopship engine, Shepard dropping onto all fours, gagging as the acrid stench of burning flesh washed over him. Around them, men and woman, soldiers were skidding into shelter. Those slower were cut down as they ran, the gun emplacements set into the ruined houses at the head of the beach raining death down upon them. Shepard swore.

"What do we do, Sarge?!" The rook that'd pulled him from the water was watching him with wide frightened eyes, Shepard recognising the quavering tone and well cleaned armour for a brief second. A stray missile derailed that train of though quite effectively however, Shepard ducking low. Even so, he still recognised the man.

"Elliot!?"

"We got shot down, I don't know where the other's are…I lost them….i was alone…I didn't know what to do….we're going to die …" Elliot clamped his hands to the side of his helmet and began to rock back and forth making a squealing noise as fear, confusion and pure and utter terror caused him to regress to a child "…..i don't wanna die, Sarge!!"

"We're not going to die…" Shepard coughed into his visor, dragging Elliot lower as round took a chunk of metal from beside his head "…no one ever _gets left behind!_"

"Shepard!!!" A shout broke through the death filled air. A few metres away, hunkered down in the shade of an burned out engine carapace, Gunney waved an arm, ducking low once more as a missile shredded his cover and tore a sprinting soldier in half. In the resulting spray of blood and scream of pain, Gunney was sinking back as body parts sprayed across the sand, draining into the once golden beach.

A troopship came in low, its rear fins skimming the sand as men scrambled clear…a stray shot tore the lead soldier from the metal ledge and sent him tumbling away into the sand, the high velocity round cutting straight through his shields with a crackle of energy.

"Shepard!! Get your fegging arse over here now!" Gunney pushed himself up against the metal wall, sinking back into cover each time a round slashed the air above his head in a electric shade of blue.

"What!! And get killed!!" a missile blast caused Shepard to fall to hands and knees, all noise becoming muffled as the explosion set in.

"Get………arse……..Beach!!" Gunney gestured, shaking his fist at the relentless barrage of shots.

"What!!?" Shepard cupped his ear, Elliot whimpering behind him as sand blew up in his face as he brought his hand quickly into cover, the impact hole too close to the black armoured gloves.

"Get your Arse up that fegging beach…!" Gunney hollered, more squad members hunkering down behind him "…die here or die up there!!"

"You heard the man…!" Shepard raised his head enough above the parapet to get a clear view of the beach before dropping back down rapidly as a sniper round burrowed itself into the metal by his head. "…up the beach, two emplacements, guarding the stairs, we've got five soldiers dug into a trench further up the beach. I'm surprised they haven't deployed vanguards along the lower levels. Probably waiting for us to breach the streets…" he ducked down as a missile screamed by and exploded, the spray disappearing into a super heated smog. "…they hope to soften us up. Stop us from reaching the streets. Energy field stopping any direct fire so they'll sit tight."

"….i can't do it sarge…."

"Yes you fucking can…!" Shepard slammed his visor into the soldier's own face plate his grey irises burning into the blue eyes behind the thin plate glass visor "…I don't fucking care if I have to drag you up this beach myself. You are fucking going to do as I say or I'll kill you myself!!"

"Alright…Sir!"

"Good! This is already a Charlie Foxtrot as it is without you going Bat Shit crazy on me."

He slammed his fist into Elliot's breastplate, unslung his rifle from his back and took a quick glance down the beach. A stray round clanged into his shields as he powered on, disappearing into the spray and sand. Through the fire, the screams and the chaos, blue fire roared through the air around him as he ran on, the sand sinking beneath his feet. The air was hard on his throat, the re-breather digging into his cheeks as the mist obscured his vision and blocked his view of the promenade and the gun emplacements that waited there. The acrid smell of phosphor filled the air, the mist merely a chemical smoke…a trooper exploded into blue fire beside him, the body tumbling away. At his back, a soldier was dragged clear, what was left of his stomach still dragging in the sand as his partner still hadn't twigged that the man she was attempting to rescue was dead.

To his right, a soldier staggered, as if in a daze, his arm missing, searching through the bodies at his feet. A round ended his search in a spray of blood as with a bemused expression he fell to his knees, seeming unsure what to do next. Death was always a willing teacher…

Shepard skidded into covered beside a fallen wing of a fighter, the pilot still hanging from the open canopy, his face burned and beyond anything recognisable as a human. Dug into the shelter, a Comm. Operator was yelling into a transceiver, his visor slotted back as a grizzled jaw dripped with sweat and sprayed blood. Beside him, Gunney clutched at a bleeding wound on his side, his jaw set as Moira Brown hung over him, an omni-tool running a diagnostic check on the wounded Capitan.

"Fegging got me Shepard…" Gunney winched as Moria dug a scalpel into the wound, digging out a small sliver of metal "…toxic bullets too. Ow! Watch what you're doing!"

"Quit whining…" Moira swabbed at the wound with an already blood covered piece of cloth "…I usually deal with rocket wounds. This is merely a scratch."

"War wound." Gunney interjected, spitting a wad of spittle into the sand.

"Big Baby." Moira said primly, the white and red stripe running down her arm now awash with blood…and not her blood either. She glanced up as Elliot slid into cover behind Shepard, the sergeant raising an eyebrow as the rook went down onto hands and knees, gasping.

"Fucking Terrible!"

"Decided to join us then Rookie." Shepard said grimly, pushing his back up against the wide expanse of grey metal of the wing, the roar of gunfire nearly drowning out his words entirely. Back across the beach, over the tossing sea, more drop-ships kicked up water as their airbrakes kicked in. One, on fire smashed down into the sand, soldiers spilling from its burning interior. Some were on fire and they rolled in the breakers or were cut down, their bodies mingling with the flotsam of wrecked ships.

"This is Alliance Ground Teams! We are pinned down and requesting aid. We need help now! There are too many and we cannot hold this position for much longer!" The comm.. operator worked a few knobs on his back pack, the line fizzing as the mist, the spray and the shield draped over the township distorted the signal.

"Any luck..!"

"No answer. No ones listening on all channels!"

"They've got a fucking frigate! Its just hanging there, why isn't it down here…" Gunney swore "…didn't they see this, they can't honestly expect us to throw our lives away!"

"What the hell are we supposed to do…!?" Shepard ran a hand down his visor "…we can't just sit here and wait for the turians to come and save our arses."

"We pull on. You take what you have of your squad and flank left, I'll take what I can scrounge and go up the middle."

"Let me go up the middle, Sarge!" Frank grimaced with pain as he too bundled into cover.

"No, I've seen you run, you take left with me."

"I say Viper Sniper rifles, far building. I've got a fix on a Heavy Turret twenty yards along main terrace, that would explain the cannon fire…" Frank thumbed a priming stud on his rifle "…I've got the best chance up the middle. I could…"

"I want you to _shut up…_!!" Shepard swore, a stray round kicking metal shards across his visor. "…not the time to fegging second guess me!"

"Fine, Sarge" Frank ground his teeth.

"Rifles on main front, grenades on the nest, I need someone back here with Grenade launcher…" Elliot, adrenaline replacing the fear patted his own bulky launcher "…good. Frank, I need you and your shotgun on that nest. Being the Vanguard I need you to deal with any son's of bitches that decide to stop us getting up those stairs. You gonna be ok Gunney?"

"I'll be fine…" they all ducked as a second missile slammed into their cover, shards of super heated metal peeling from the main frame work and whistling off into the mist "…Hendrickson, Peters and Hill, you're with me. Davidson, Walsh, I need the tech-boys on the left…" he patted the operator on the arm "…tell any bastards who have their radios on to push up the beach." There was no response, the operator lolling back, his head and his comm. unit both bearing similar sized holes.

"D'ravit, we're running blind."

"Pack's fried; we're not getting anything from that piece of shite. Short wave radios from now on." Shepard nodded, slotting a finger into his ear. Gunney did the same and with a hard pat on Elliot's shoulder, was gone into the mist. Shepard leapt up to, Frank, Moira following as Elliot opened fire into the mist, the putt of the grenade launcher filling the air and lit their paths. Chaos ensued.

From his vantage point, Elliot could see all laid out before him. Through the mist, the bulk of Shepard's armour, the single blue Sergeants stripe standing out through the grey, was leaping forward, his rifle spitting hot death into the pile of Hex shields which sprung up along the front. On the right, the flash of omni tool's cleaved a path through a flickering barrier. Gunney and his squad were still sprinting up the middle, their boots slamming into the sand, their footprints kicking dust and debris into the air. Shepard's voice roared over the comm. link again, a grenade kicking a great deal of blue fire and rock dust into the air. An Asari merc was leaping the rubble, her hands jerking feebly as Frank emptied his shot gun into her chest, the point blank shot sending her tumbling backwards, the Batarian Vanguard who followed yelled in pain as Shepard's combat knife raked across its throat, its four eyes blinking in surprise.

"…"

The was a rattle of blue fire, a Batatrian shrieking as a over heated plasma bolt embedded itself in its chest plate and exploded, an armour plate shearing away. It had barely got back onto its feet when Shepard shattered its ribs with a short range pistol blast.

"….movemovemovemove….good….you there gunney? Second Squad, push on. Sweep right!"

There was roar of pain as a round tore a hole through Charlie's shoulder plate, Moira stumbling to catch the madly wind-milling soldier as he fell backward, trying to steady him. Elliot realised his magazine had clicked empty; he'd been franticly pulling at a defunked trigger for the last few minutes, the fear of the exchange freezing him in place. On the right, a grenade looped slowly through the air, its passage clumsy as the wind caught it. Another, its warning lights flashing tumbled down onto the boulevard. There was a second explosion which sent the metal struts Elliot was hiding behind rattling loudly.

"Push them!! Push them!! Don't give them chance to take breath…" Gunney wheezed over the line, his small squad hunkered down beneath the wall steps "…damn! Shields down. I need engineers here now!"

There was a crump of explosives several metres away as Gunney reached the wall. To the right, the stone colonnade which ran along the boulevard side disintegrated in a hail of mortar and stone fragments. Shepard and his men were lost in the dust which followed the blast.

"Right there…right there….right there…" there was the thoom of a sniper rifle and sprinting figure slumped down into the dirt. "…down….damn! Man down! Man down!"

There was another crackle of static as Moira fizzled a response.

"Be there in a minute…give me cover."

High above, engines blasting sand throughout the battlefield, a human frigate was coming down, its running lights blazing through the spray. Elliot yelled over the noise, as above the boulevard, the energy shield shuddered and died. Beyond that, drop pods were screaming down through the clouds, energy cascades running off their metal surfaces as they fell. The generator which had spread the shield across the town like an umbrella, tumbled down into the sand of the beach, its compartments fizzling and sparking as amidst the sand bags and still intact energy shield, a lone figure rose up from the smoke.

"This is Sergeant Shepard…" Shepard slotted his finger into his ear "…to all channels. All those who are still alive…all those who are still waiting to drop…all those who have fallen….and all those who are waiting…" He said levelly, his helmet running with blue blood of the fallen bodies at his feet as behind him, black clad soldiers sprinted up through the streets. "…we need to push….we need to go….we need to fight…" he took a long breath "…so many have fallen. To all those how are too afraid, who are wounded, we have a short but bloody road to go until we complete. We will show the aliens that we can get the job done. We will get the job done and I need you all…to be here…" he turned, clapping a hand onto Frank's shoulder, the old soldier looking on grimly as they began to sprint forward.

Gunney was swearing by the barricades, a dead soldier been dragged clear of the breach. At the top of the rise, the centre of the town was filled with the roar of gunfire, deeply entrenched slavers waited, their gun emplacements tearing holes in the ranks of soldiers been forced up the main street.

"No one gets left behind…" Elliot too slotted his finger into the comm. piece as Shepard crackled through his hearing, the short wave radio barely coping with the distance between him and the Sergeant. He tightened his grip on the Grenade Launcher and pushed himself forward into the chaos.

* * *

"This is wrong…" From behind the thick glass, Malara looked down into the hell which boiled up below. Within the confines of the heavily armoured Turian Frigate, the heavy armoured which covered her form seemed mildly out of place amongst the Turian Flight crew who preferred lighter clothing as to move amongst the machines. And then there was Commander Rebus who was clad in a gaudy array of old Turian Ceremonial Armour. Malara would've of commented on the rust, if the Matriarchs hadn't warned her sternly not to before boarding the ship. However, the point remained, Malara narrowing her green tinged eyes "…we shouldn't be doing this."

"They are expendable…" Rebus looked up from a data pad "…humans…all of us have a place in the greater machine which is this Council. Lives must be lost to secure council security."

"Lives must not be thrown away; you have got your terms confused…Rebus." Malara interjected. Behind her, Tania coughed quietly into her hand, the smaller Asari fiddling with a loose cuff of her Hard Suit.

"Humans do not have that right to question us. They must earn our respect, be that by fire. I have little respect for their weak minds and bodies…they will serve their purpose for now."

"I would not underestimate them."

* * *

A blue ball of energy shredded one soldier as he mounted the bricks of the square. In the following ripple of blue energy, the warp burning through the man's particles before he even had time to scream out, Shepard was ducking low, hurrying into cover as packing crate took flight at his back. It smashed down several metres away, knocking one soldier flying as he flanked through a burnt house. He cried out in pain as high above, the frigate opened fire, a missile covering the streets in masonry dust as buildings still standing and still held gun emplacements were dashed to the ground.

"Turians are dropping rocks on us…!" Frank dragged Hill to his feet, Gunney's second in command clutching at a stomach wound. Moira's omni tool clad hand pulled him into shelter behind a pillar as the device administered the required medi-gel. Her dispenser was nearly empty, several alarms sounding with the confines of her Hard Suit.

"Think its time to start yelling about Shanxi?" Shepard ground his teeth, his visor speckled with burns from a loose round. Frank shook his head…

"Biotic! Middle of the square…" he inched himself up as Frank scurried to his side. There was a ripple of blue light, Shepard ducking down as a pillar disintegrated into dust several metres from where his head had been "…one Asari, lightly armoured but got a bloody great barrier protecting her."

"Standard Protocol…"

"Yeah alright…!!" Shepard waved him aside as a soldier was blasted backward as he rose from cover, disappearing through the shop window at least thirty metres behind. In the silence that followed, Shepard did see one shaky arm rise from the broken window. "…concussive shot if anti biotic field devices are not available…does any one have anti biotic fields…warp ammo? Anyone a secret biotic…?" several worried glances were exchanged amongst the small group hunkered down around the edge of the square. The Asari had begun to start screaming in anger, her biotics lighting the square a dull blue with each wave of her arm. Whatever she was on…Shepard could see several canisters of a red gas strewn around her around, it was improving her biotic potential. "…right fine. It ain't pretty, but concussive shot it is."

"But what do we do!?" A soldier raised an arm.

"Sweep round; she can't get all of us."

"I hate you sometimes, Shepard." Gunney slid into cover as the rather angry Asari tossed a car at them. It rolled away having narrowly missing them, smashing through a shop and rolling down the hill until it was lost from view.

"It'll work, won't it Sergeant?" Moira was pale behind her breathing mask, her assault rifle smoking. For a medic, she was surrounded by a lot of dead bodies. Ever the soldier, Moira was unfazed, even if her hands shook slightly, covered in the blood of her foes…and her allies. In fact, Shepard turned his head from left to right, scanning the battlefield…there were a lot of bodies. They all ducked in unison as another biotic field slammed into the wall above their heads.

"You recall his previous plans." Charlie was nursing a medi-gel bandage on his shoulder as he looked over at Moira, his own rifle resting across his knees.

"Oh….yeah." Moira seemed to sink down on her haunches, dislodging several pieces of masonry from her shoulder pads.

"A little optimism please…!" Shepard groaned as most his squad and then some looked at each other with slight nervous glances "…jesus Christ people, that was just one occasion."

"Torfan." Charlie said pointedly.

"You all survived!"

"Barely."

"Frank…" Shepard clouted the older man round the back of his head as he raised a rather resolute finger "…that flesh wound of yours. I'm sorry, but I wouldn't exactly call it a flesh wound. You got shot in the arse!!!!" Shepard thundered as Charlie tutted and shook his head in disapproval.

Gunney ground his teeth as Charlie and Shepard sidled past, their head bowed and muttered; "…honestly."

"Sarge…"

"Any more words out of you and I'm gonna be using you spleen as a tennis racket…" Shepard rumbled dangerously as they slid onward, keeping their heads down as they moved round the left hand side of the square. "…alright. Let's be professional about this. Check your targets, reduce overheat so I want snow blind…." He grabbed the top of Charlie's collar and wrenched him forward so he could hear every word. "…That's snowblind rounds Corporal. Not Inferno…Snowblind…we all remember what happened last time."

"Sarge…?"

"Don't question…remember, watch my six, check your targets….i don't want any friendly fire, the turians are bad enough at that as it is."

A concussive shot exploded violently against the Asari's shielding. She was taken aback for a split second, her eyes widening as over wide pupils, evident of the drug that was flowing through her system, stared out into space. And she gestured at the nearest thing, a trooper yelling as he was blasted backward, legs kicking in zero – g.

"I am a biotic Goddess!!"

"You're high!" someone yelled over the noise. A thrown Mass Field silenced the voice abruptly. She threw her arm to the side, her biotic potential welling up as she caught another annoying insect in the chest and sent him and the man behind backward through a still intact window.

The 'Insects' in question, Shepard and Charlie smashed hard down onto a counter surface of what appeared to be an old dilapidated restaurant and slid down into a kitchen area, leaving two large holes in the wall. Pots and pans, knocked from the side clattered the floor, the racket muffling all outside noise. Spitting masonry dust, Shepard coughed and sputtered, trying to dislodge a brick which sat on his chest, his visor dented by the force of the blast.

"Charlie…oh god...haarh….Jesus Christ….argh…I've think I've broken something….Charlie?...urrrggghh…" he rolled over coughing as something moved above his head "…Charlie!? You alright? Speak to me mate, I'm not dragging you home."

"Up here Sarge…"Shepard looked up to find the Corpora lodged in the gap between a fridge and a wall. "…Leave me for now. I think this thing is the only thing holding my face in place…" Charlie groaned as Shepard dragged himself to his feet and made to pull the man free "…ow. Leave me for now, Moira will deal with me…" he retched into his mask as Shepard stumbled backward, reaching for his pistol, his rifle discarded in the dirt "…finish the job. Gunney's going to need you."

It was too much, however much she tried, the Asari couldn't hold them back. As the Barrier shivered and fell, she felt a round take a chunk of flesh from her shoulder. That was enough, her concentration failing as did her biotic potential, the blue fire boiling away as she tumbled backward, the merc's armour breaking apart. As she fell, her fingers reaching for the hole, she saw her killer taking the final shot, a look of complete fury written across his features. His armour was covered in rock dust, his breast plate pitted and scoured as he clamped his pistol to her forehead. He didn't say anything; there was no one liner or heroic words. There was no mercy either as Shepard emptied his pistol into her skull, parts of her head scattering back over the concrete.

* * *

Shepard became acutely aware of his predicament at that point. Soft felt pressed into his back, as with tentative fingers he ran his hands over the material. He met an edge, his fingers moving over the harsh metal of a gurney. He was on a table, on a bed…no, operating table. _Well that's not good_…his consciousness whispered in his mind as Shepard slightly inclined his head, the muscles in his neck struggling. The air around was filled with the hiss and whine of machines, the rattle of holographic keys echoing through the cool space. There was an audible gasp as he struggled to raise his head, suddenly becoming aware of the gauze padding which covered his eyes.

"Dr Chakwas!! He's waking up!" a synthesized voice echoed across the space as thin digits gripped his hands in an iron grip as Shepard struggled to rise.

"At last, Commander. You gave us quite a scare there…" Shepard groaned, hands reaching for the gauze over his eyes. They were snatched away roughly "…no, commander, I wouldn't touch those for now…" Shepard coughed, croaking as he struggled to speak, only able to roughly move through a range of sounds before he gave up and slumped back "…and your throat's lacerated with such an intense loss pressure." Shepard made a noise along the lines of 'Woohoo' and broke into coughing.

"I always told you that suit needed mending, and you said it was fine…" The synthesised voice was back, the thin digits still wrapped round his hand. He could count three points of contact on his arm. It was of an unusual bone structure, the way the fingers curled round his wrist, each knuckle seeming to be through some thick material. The hands were small, not having to make space for four fingers and they gripped his own with such force, Shepard could feel his bones creaking under the strain. There was also the tell tale tang of engine oil in the air, Shepard coughing as his throat tore. Even breathing hurt, it felt like his entire chest was on fire, his face stinging. He tried to tear himself free, struggling to rise from the table as another firm three digit hand tried to push him back down. There was a gut wrenching feeling of weightlessness before he hit what must be the ground with great force. Winded, pained and now bleeding, the panicked shouts of Chakwas and the other filled his ears as he fell back into blackness.

* * *

"Commander Rebus."

"Hmm?" The Turian raised his head from the data slate, discarding the glass of green liquid on the side of his chair. Within the chaotic confines of the bridge, the Turian flight crew looked up nervously as a rather water logged human soldier mounted the bridge steps and rose up the Commander's chair, liquid dribbling freely from his armour and left wet, muddy foot prints on the well clean deck.

"We couldn't stop him sir. He demands to see the…ahem…" Malara raised an eyebrow as the attendant stuttered nervously "…the bastard in charge."

"What! Who?" Rebus said shrilly as the human rose into view. Grey eyes flashed Malara feeling a small thrill as she whirled around, her fingers reaching for her combat knife as Sergeant Andrew Shepard came into view.

"Shepard!" she gasped as the human looked on with a look of such cold fury that the Matron shuddered. He wasn't looking at her however, more glowering at the Turian who was struggling to rise from his chair. Years of Command had reduced his once muscular build, the armour now moving sluggishly as Shepard approached.

"Human…" he chittered hurriedly, knocking the data slate onto the floor "…what are you doing?"

There was a rather nasty crunch, Rebus's eyes crossing rather comically as he fell back into his chair. Shepard withdrew his fist and with such a look of disgust, tossed a bundle of holographic dog tags onto the unconscious Turian's chest. Malara looked on, her sharpened canines digging into her lower lip as the human allowed the Turian security crew to take him down, his face slamming hard into the metal plating of the bridge floor. Those Grey irises…so robbed of life…would haunt her dreams tonight.

* * *

The Med Bay came rushing back, as did the noise. Such clarity in volume echoed through the small spaces of the ship, Shepard coughing as he became aware of the hand which was still wrapped around his. There was a long breath of relief as someone murmured under their breath. Shepard coughed…

"Tali?"

There was heart wrenching squeak as the hand released, leaving Shepard with a handful of empty air. Before he could say anything, the med bay door hissed open and Tali was lost into the packed interior of the Mess Hall. Perturbed, Shepard made to rise, his arms grabbing for the sides of the gurney he lay on. He swung his legs over the edge, the rough material catching at the back of his legs as he slid down. One of his toes caught the cold floor; he winched which set off every single other tort and over stressed muscle. After a minute of excruciating pain, he allowed himself to slide down onto the floor. Things tugged at his chest, pads attached to wires tore loose across his bare chest. This hiss and whir of machines was replaced by a keening wail of machines as his heart monitor flat-lined as he tore the monitoring devices from his skin. He took one tentative step forward and walked into another table. He swore loudly, his questing fingers grabbing at a sheet which rested on the top of the table. Cold, dead fingers met his, their forms limp and lifeless, resting against a table top. Shepard yelped, stumbling backward as he realised what it was…a dead body occupied that table.

Gently, as not to tear any of his stitches, he turned, pacing along the thin space between the two tables. He then paused, digging his toes into the rough surface of the floor. With his left hand, he rested a palm on Dr Chakwas's desk. Seeing as there were no warning remarks or rugby tackles as of yet, the Doctor was out, elsewhere on board perhaps. Or not… the decks weren't thrumming as if they would be in flight. Instead, the ship was silent of most engine noise. Docked…perhaps…Shepard wondered where Pressly had taken them this time. He walked on with slow, gingerly place steps, blind, his arms out in front of him. His open palms met the door, fingers running over its smooth surface. He activated the lock, the dull tone warbling through the speakers. Warm air greeted him, warming his fingers. He could feel the movement of fabric from waist down, someone thankfully had the right mind to make him wear trousers. Noise deafened him, people rushing by as Shepard caught the wall beside him. Only a smooth surface met his hand and he slid off, a rough curb smashing hard into his thigh. There were shouts, noise, people yelling in surprise as something tore, Shepard felt liquid running down his chest as new scars opened once again, sharp pains running up and down his chest as he lay on the hard floor.

Chairs were scraping back all around him as people rose from dinner. Ashley's blunt tones took on a more concerned sound as Garrus, his talons digging painfully into Shepard's upper arms dragged him upright roughly.

"Commander!!"

"Need…" Shepard said hoarsely as he felt himself been lifted into a chair.

"God…you're a mess, Commander." Ashley's voice came somewhere near his head.

"Need…"

"Are you ok commander…?" Shepard blindly raised a hand, his fingers resting against soft fabric positioned just within an arms length of his chair. He grabbed the material and pulled, bringing whoever was nearest down to his level. Cordite wafted across his one remaining sense as Shepard, through cracked lips whispered…his throat barely holding:

"Need…Coffee."


	8. Book 1: Coffee and TV

_Right, welcome back to the next chapter of Shepard and his Caffeine drinking, sarcastic, argumentative crew who refuse to update to the new gleaming Mass Effect 2. Now, the plot thickens as the dead body brought aboard wields some interesting results, forcing Chakwas to call for help, Garrus finds that his calibrations are in fact, well off, Kaiden reveals another thrilling episode of his life, or at least is avoided, Ashley has to finally change an ammo cartridge, the crew discover that Quarians do not go around smelling of roses, literally and the med staff get a feeling of impending doom after Liara reveals her addiction....to Coffee and TV..._

_Enjoy._

* * *

"Right...several things you need to take into account when working with drop pods. Firstly, secure all objects which are likely to come loose. Getting some large chunk of metal in the face at 60 miles an hour tends to throw your concentration off. Secondly, calculate the breaking distances. It does sound complicated but its not rocket science, just a load of guesswork, weather reports and numbers…no biggie really. If you fail to calculate the breaking distances, fail to calibrate the thrusters for a correct burn-through and possibly cause a malfunction due to your failure to maintain your pod's systems, you will not occupy a piece of military hardware. You will instead occupy a fifty thousand credit coffin. That is not a good place to be. Understand?"

**Excerpt from "Zen and the Art of Drop Pod Maintenance".**

* * *

Chakwas took a long drag from the boiling hot coffee, wincing at the burning liquid and dropped lightly off the last step, nodding in greeting to Kaiden who jogged past, his face set in a rather perturbed expression. Chakwas didn't say anything, just keeping her head down and looking at the data pad she held in gloved fingers. She was in that kind of mood to not want to be engaged in some brainless conversation, taking a look over Kaiden's history was enough to make most people try to avoid bringing it up in conversation and usually, he was having a migraine and unwilling to talk about anything or do anything different apart from maintain his console. Not saying that L.T Kaiden Alenko was a social husk when it came to interesting and entertaining conversation, but Chakwas knew enough to avoid him on her rather more vulnerable mornings.

By the time this little gem had passed through her mind and taken a slingshot tour round her consciousness, the Doctor had reached the door of the med bay and surprised to see Liara emerging from its depths, arranging her uniform in a more presentable fashion.

"Liara?"

"Just getting some supplies, Dr Chakwas…" Liara said quietly as she passed "…I'm out of coffee."

"Yes…yes…ok…" Chakwas paused, noting the dark rings around the asari maiden's eyes "…caffeine addiction leaflets, later Liara…" she said levelly. Liara didn't respond. "…and no buts..." she paused, tucking the data pad under one arm and taking a sip of the offending beverage "…and no excuses! I'm not falling for the 'Need to rest again!!"

There was no response and Chakwas, shaking her head turned into the med bay. No one occupied the space beyond and the Doctor, nearly breaking the data pad in half as she muttered audibly and venomously over the whirr of machines and the whine of the heart monitor as it monitored the empty air of a gurney.

"You absolute bastard…" she whirled around and stormed back into the mess hall "…Shepard!!"

Wrex set the food tray down on the table with a clatter and sat down with a sigh. The chair creaked under his weight as the heavily armoured Krogan sat back into the black plastic, his tail settling back into the base of his spine as his body adjusted to the human designed chair.

There was a sudden clean smell in the air, a cutting scent as the good Doctor stormed by.

"Have you seen Shepard?"

"No…" Wrex rumbled. And that was truth, a long lie in had set him back by quite a bit, the Krogan having wedged himself in one of the baffles and dozed off where the other humans couldn't disturb him. That hadn't gone quite to plan when one particular Quarian engineer had jabbed him quite hard in chest with a spanner and gestured for him to leave.

"I'm gonna kill that Rat Bastard when I find him…!!" she was clearly fuming as she span around and stalked off toward the lift, her hands balled into fists "…I say rest but noooo, he has to go off and play the gorram hero. No Doctor, I'm well enough to diagnose my self. Me with my own limited medical knowledge but because I'm such a heroic man, I can be instantly well. No…" her diatribe became slightly muffled as she stepped into the lift, scaring the life out of one Ashley Williams who was stepping out of the lift at the same time "…I'll be fine and bleed out on some pavement some where because I'm smart enough to not listen to Dr Chakwas because she's only had, oh!!! 20 years of medical training…!!" the door whirred shut as Wrex and Ashley exchanged glances; the doctor screaming from inside the lift shaft "…_Shepard!!!!!!_"

* * *

Garrus cracked his neck as in the well lit space of the hold; the Mako glittered in its holdings, its white coat pristine and gleaming. With a sigh, he tapped several numbers into his console. He stooped, digging one spanner from his tool box and turned back to the console, his mandibles twitching slightly as the machine chimed.

"Garrus…What are you doing?" The stench of pipe cleaners and engine oil drew Garrus's attention from his work and to the oil covered, heavily stained Quarian who stood behind him, her arms folded.

"Calibrating. You been in the ducts again?"

"Uhuh. Had to dig Wrex out the maintenance shaft too." She patted the tool belt strung around her waist. Several fire blackened tools hung from thick plastic straps as did a small data reader, its surface now pitted and scored unlike the clean, well kept article that Garrus had sat next to his work station. He'd caught her glancing at it a few times before with what could be a look of near hunger, her eyes flashing behind the visor as she slowly fiddled with her own, broken and barely working one. This time was no different and he interjected forcefully:

"Is there something you want Tali?"

"Oh nothing….just checking in…" she took a quick glance at the screen beside them breaking her gaze with his data reader "...by the way, you do realise you miss-calculated the tyre calibrations."

"Oh…thank you." Garrus brought up the relevant programme…she was right. He rearranged the offending numbers with a twirl of his fingers

"Oh…and you've misaligned the booster jets." Again, the error registered, Garrus felt his mandibles twitch. "…again…" she added carefully as Garrus made an odd noise at the back of his throat.

"Thanks."

"Also, the hull shielding is currently registering a miscalculation, you haven't calibrated it correctly." The error message flicked up once again, Garrus settling back into his armour as a rather annoying itch began to dig into his scalp.

"Uh huh."

"Oh, and you've…"

"Alright….alright!! Go away!!! Just go away!! Go polish the engine or something!!."

"I will…" Tali said primly. "…oh and Garrus."

"Naaaarrrggggh!!" He batted at her with the end of his spanner as around the hold, other soldiers looked up from their work stations. Even Ashley who was in shirtsleeves, up to her elbows in spare parts, finding a spare ammo cartridge midst the chaos looked up in surprise.

"You haven't inflated the tires properly." There was a resounding hiss and the Mako slumped to one side, the suspension riding up as the tires at last gave out. This must have dislodged something as one by one the packing crates neatly lined up against the wall each toppled over before flattening the duty officer's table. There was a chorus of rattles, squeaks and moans before one loud bang as the last packing crate fell forward onto the metal floor.

"I hate you." Garrus said in the silence that followed.

* * *

In the bright lights of Kaylein Station, the Cruiser going by the name of White Chapel dwarfed the gigantic hanger; its white flanks making the surrounding ships seem like toys. One such ship was the Normandy who modestly sat in a large hydraulic cage set into one portion of the wall toward the base of the tube like hanger.

Doctor Wynne gently smoothed down his neatly parted greying ginger hair and tucked his jacket under one arm, his lined face sinking down to stare intently at the data pad held in one hand. In the other, a large grey suitcase rested against one leg, the strain it was putting on one arm beget its weight and the Doctor, now letting the data pad sink, looked up into the well cleaned nose cone of the Normandy.

"Wow…"

"Pretty isn't she…" the soldier that sat in its shadow looked up from his coffee, his seat a loose packing crate outside the large hold door. "…best ship in the fleet. The fastest and the most well designed piece of military spending." The man, wearing N7 fatigues, pulled the hat tighter round his scalp, obscuring the top portion of his head beneath its wide brim.

"I don't know…" Wynne said, his well pronounced accent a great deal different to the soldier's gruff tones "…would have preferred to see more money to be spent on medical technology. I would've of loved to see some better medical advances then a new ship."

"Really?"

"Well, we have a load of shiny new ships but not an army of shiny new men. Just an army of outmatched, under armed men. The men who run this little army are a bunch of bloody bureaucrats and all those who take their orders and have the right to make the choice and decisions."

"Oh…true…true."

"I'm looking for the Captain of this ship…" Wynne said eventually in the vaguely awkward silence that followed "...Dr Chakwas requested that I be brought aboard."

"He's onboard somewhere…" the soldier at last looked up, Wynne taking several steps back as beneath the brim, white gauze covered the soldier's eyes. "…ignore these, I ran into a little trouble."

"You really need to let someone take a look at those…"

"Step on in…" the soldier responded flatly "…that's why you're here."

Wynne nodded, loping forward as the soldier turned back to his coffee. What he could see or hear in the world beyond seemed to be beyond Wynne, the man's eyes covered and basically blind. But he was defiantly aware of what was going on in the world around him, even amongst all the chaos. Perturbed, Wynne made it his mission to find out what and tapped the first person he came across on the shoulder.

"Excuse me…"

"Yes…" Tali turned, pulling her scarf up around her head having been smoothing the soft felt at that the top of her neck, trying to relieve some itch "…can this be quick, I'm about to try to realign the drive thrusts."

"Right…wait what…" Wynne gestured at the coffee machine behind the Quarian's head, a bright red cup with the words 'Warning' written on the side gripped in her three thin digits "…how is that fixing the Drive Thrusts?"

"I'm just that good…" Tali tapped a small mess of machinery implanted into the side of her mask, the wires running to the dark space behind the scarf. That was obviously manipulating something elsewhere on the ship, the tell tale whine of a transmitter emanated from the alien's suit as she stood before him. "…and I'm trying…yeah I can see you're about to try and correct my English…" Wynne closed his mouth "…the…how does Shepard say it…'_baloooody_' things won't _'foookking'_ align correctly and we're running on half efficiency as the modulators aren't reacting correctly…" she waved her hand, half exasperated by the omnipresent drive core "…and I'm trying…yeah I can see you're about to try and correct my English…" Wynne closed his mouth "…so what did you want?"

"That man…out there…" he gestured back toward the door. "…what's he doing?"

"Getting some air, looking at the view? I don't know, I've never been good at understanding humans"

"But he's blind?"

"Temporarily…that's Commander Shepard. He's never been good at just accepting things."

Wynne blanched visibly as he was doused in a cold bath full of realisation.

"That was Commander Shepard…" he said hoarsely, "…that man was the man in charge?!"

"Yes…" Tali dug a feeding tube from the base of her mask and slid it into the slightly strange coloured liquid which occupied the cup "…why?"

"Oh bugger."

* * *

"Shepard!" Dr Chakwas slapped Shepard had round the back of the head, the fuming doctor had gone a rather strange colour of puce.

"Ow! Injured Dr Chakwas…remember I'm injured!" Shepard winced as all the stressed muscles all tightened instantly, giving him a few seconds of excruciating agony.

"What in God's name are you doing out here and not back in the med bay!"

"I was just catching some air, it was getting a bit samey in there."

"This is why I like comatose patients, they feel more bound to the fact that they are injured. They don't feel inclined to wander off."

"I'll remember that for later…" Shepard took a quick sip from his coffee which he'd had resting by his foot "…next time I get shot, I'll try and be knocked out too. Just so you can have an easier time…honestly Doc." Shepard tilted his head back to look to the right. On the left, Chakwas rolled her eyes.

"See, you can't even tell which side I'm on. How in hell did you get out here unaided?"

"Easy…" Shepard shrugged "…just looked for walls. I may have punched someone on the way down, I didn't quite gauge how hard I was moving my arms…heh…hey was Tali in with me when I was down?"

"Yes…" Chakwas sighed and slumped down beside Shepard shaking her head as Shepard adjusted his seat, trying to avoid tearing his stitches "…from the beginning. I think she worries about you, you know."

"A Quarian worrying about an idiot like me…." Shepard shook his head "…you'd of thought she'd have some sense."

"She's young. A dashing space ship captain who acts hero and rides in to save the day, you can't blame her. I think she's a little in awe of you."

"Why, what's there to be in awe of. I'm barely holding together as it is….and I'm not exactly the greatest person to be around."

"Oh don't be so negative…" they both paused in mid sentence as a Fighter passed by, running lights glowing. "…there's plenty of you that's likeable, well, the none modified parts anyway."

"So Doc…tell me. Why are we here…?" Shepard turned his head to stare intently at the Doctor "…I mean Kaylien station is a little outside council space, what have you got planned?"

"Over here Shepard…What made it think it was me?"

"Because Pressly is currently cured of all illness and I could smell immeuno-boosters a mile away. He reeks of them at the moment."

"Oh…I wouldn't know…" Chakwas became extremely interested in her finger nails at that point. "…just taking a leaf out of your book, Shepard."

"Look, I just have people owing me favours, nothing much. I'm not that much of a bad influence. Specially to you Doctor…" he sighed, flaring his nostrils as a spicy scent, carried up from the markets which were strewn over floating platforms far below hung in the air, playing on the draft which blew in from the Life-Support system. "…Ok, you've said how we've got here, why are we here?"

"I need a specialist to come in. That body we've got in the Med-Bay…" Shepard shuddered remembering the cold fingers "…I bet that hurt didn't it."

"Yeah…" Shepard ground his teeth as the involuntary shudder set off all his wounds "…don't make laugh, I'm falling apart as it is."

"…anyway, the body we've got in the med bay is currently is throwing me. I've got significant poisoning, stress to the body before death by appearances. She was dead before they stuck her on that spike."

"So what, what's throwing you?"

"She's got some chemical on the skin surface which is causing some disparity with all other Asari genealogy. And some unidentifiable object in the chest cavity. I want a second opinion. Someone who's a pathologist, this is a little out of my field of expertise."

"Ah…"

"Also, one thing I thought it would be best to tell you Shepard."

"Hmm…" Shepard took a long swig from his coffee "…what?"

"He's from Exo-Geni." The sound of Shepard choking on his coffee was the only noise which followed.

* * *

"So, I see you're a Quarian…" Wynne wished the lift would move faster as they rose up through the ship. It wasn't as if he hadn't talked to Aliens before, they usually passed through his clinic. But some, he could never quite grasp this particular race; ever part of their suit, the Quarians had always escaped him. Lack of a face for instance, though even if the mask, he could tell the young woman beside him had just raised an eyebrow. "…I mean, I've never met a Quarian working on a human alliance ship." He stuttered.

"Oh really, Shepard has an interesting choice of crew members…" Tali adjusted her shawl, belaying the slight discomfort she was feeling. Wynne looked very nervous, his face reddening in each passing second. "…so insulted the Commander did you?"

"In passing, I merely referred to him as an unthinking idiot who takes orders with no thoughts to the consequences."

"Oh…you're really good with the whole first impression thing." Tali was defiantly smirking behind the mask, it was clear to hear it in her voice.

"And you smell very strongly of engine oil and element zero…" Wynne retorted "…aren't you like supposed to smell of spice and travel."

"I'm an engineer…" Tali shifted from foot to foot, patting her tool belt "…I can't exactly stay clean when I spend most of the day in a tube. I have other suits, if I need to clean…washing is a little beyond me. I can only do inside the suit."

"Hang on…" Wynne felt the cogs whirring in his mind "…you can only wash the inside?"

"Standing under a stream of water in these suits fries the shields and all the suits I can get my hands on have permanent shields…and static is very hard to get rid of inside these suits. So I plug myself into a water pipe and flood the interior of the suit, the re-breather keeps the air flowing…and then I eject the water."

"Very interesting…" Wynne made a face, not exactly fascinated by a tale of Quarian hygiene.

"So why are you here?"

* * *

"You've done what!!!"

"Alright Shepard…" Chakwas dragged Shepard backward as he made for the lift. "…you're going to tear your stitches."

"Already have! Too pissed off to care…!!!" Shepard was nearly spitting as he pulled himself forward. "…oh why! Why did you invite those bastards here!!! Hate them all!! Bastards all of them!!"

"Dr Wynne is a close personal friend! He isn't like them!"

"Zhu's Hope!! Fai Dan!....naaaarrrrggggghhh!!"

"Damnit, Shepard! Calm down! He's not like them! And he'll fix your eyes!"

"Oh…" Shepard stopped dead in his tracks "…he will?"

"Yes…he's an eye specialist as well as a pathologist."

"Oh…" he surged forward roaring as Chakwas swore loudly, wrapping her arms round Shepard's chest. "…then I'll just break his legs!!"

"Garrus! Help me please!" straining, Chakwas turned to the Turian as he rose from his calibration station.

"Right…!" Garrus's talons brought blood flowing through the shirt, Shepard yelling in pain and anger as he reached for the elevator button.

"Gently! Garrus…restrain him gently!"

"How is that possible!! He's gorram strong! Argh!" Shepard brought his elbow up into Garrus's middle and staggered forward, Chakwas yelling in surprise as Shepard broke free.

"Damn it! Stop him…" the door slid closed, Shepard slumping into the corner of the lift. "…oh crap. Shepard! Come back!"

"I feel sorry for your Doctor friend…" Garrus gasped as he pulled himself up onto his feet, claws digging into his waist where Shepard's elbow had connected.

"Oh, he'll be ok…" Chakwas thumbed the lift call button "…it's Shepard I'm worried about."

The smell of the mess hall was the only thing that filled Shepard's head as he fell forward; bleeding heavily from his open wounds as his stitches tore. The soft thing he fell into stank of machines, soft felt moving beneath his fingers as thin fingers planted into his chest.

"Shepard!"

"Tali..." Haphazardly Shepard planted two hands on either side of her mask and lent forward resting his forehead against her faceplate and said, his words slurring "…you're really pretty…" he fell into her arms before waving one arm at the figure who stood behind her "…and….and…and I don't know you. But you look funny…"

"Oh…that's good…" Wynne said as Tali staggered under the commander's dead weight. Shepard became steadily aware of an odd buzzing noise which emanated from the back of his skull, an orange flash flooding his vision as everything took on a soft tone. But he felt as if he had something to say, even as he fell into the soft, engine oil covered thing in front of him.

"Tali…" Shepard slurred "…I really like you…really….really….really…really…like…"

Oh…" Tali breathed, gently

"Pretty oil smelling alien lady…all good…nice….very tired…hmmm…lovelylovely." And then he was gone, sagging visibly as he clattered to the floor. He was drooling, rather amusingly, Tali taking a quick step back as Shepard gurgled quite happily to himself.

"Oops…" Wynne said quietly as he stooped to drag Shepard clear as the lift whirred into action. "…thought he needed to get some sleep."

"You shouldn't have done that…" Tali said, concernedly pulling at Shepard's fatigues.

"Did he just go crazy and fall over…?" she said, eying Wynne who was sheepishly stowing his omni tool, several vials disappearing in his pack. Wynne shrugged, taking his bag from the floor. "…what did you do!?"

"A limited neural shock. Just enough to induce doziness, not use too much chemicals and no permanent damage…" he listed "I am a Doctor…kind of. He looked as though he was about to tear me a new one. That'd be something I could not repair."

"Will you fix him…?" Tali said earnestly "…I mean, he doesn't mind having no sight, but I…"

"You seem quite worried about him…" Wynne looked up as the lift reached the door "…you and him…?"

"What! No…no…no…" Tali shook her head, stammering "…no. Shepard would be stupid to be attracted to me…I mean, he can't get past this suit…and it wouldn't work…i would get ill…and…well….he's got so many other's to chose from…he'd want some one he could see, love…touch…is beyond me…I….I…I mean sleeping toge….."

"Alright. But you would like it to…"

"What!?...I…I…"

The door whirred open, the lift becoming silent as Dr Chakwas burst from the interior. She stopped, taking in the Doctor who stood over Shepard's comatose form, the Commander who lay on the metal floor gurgling and the startled Quarian, who knelt over him looking almost protective.

"Damnit Shepard…" she breathed. "…neural shock, sedated and calm with limited damage to the retina or neurological functions…and not dead either. Dr Wynne, you astound me once again."

"Chakwas…" he said, extending his hand, his grey jacket falling open to reveal the medi kit below it "…it's been a long time."


	9. Book 1: He thought of Space Ships

**Thanks for all the Faves, reviews and alerts.**

**Well, in quick succession, here's the next piece. This is more story centric chapter, introducing a whole new personality as well as a few random names. I never had favorite characters, so to speak (Admittedly, Garrus, Tali, Wrex, Kaiden, Liara, Chakwas and Joker), but after playing with Mass Effect 2, i feel more friendly with the crew as a whole, if you can create your own stories for them.**

**Anyway, heres the next chapter, its quite long and with quite a bit of dialogue. Don't worry, the action begins here. Kudos to all those who can tell me where the two newest chapters' titles are from...**

_**(PS = All those struggling to picture Dr Wynne, think Robson Green) **_

**Enjoy**

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_Sorry to all those who received two reponses to review, the blasted system for some reason has got a bit buggy and is currently sending out messages in pairs or not at all. So if you recieve a response twice, ignore one, its just my messenger playing up...my hardrive has just started singing Daisy Bell._

* * *

The rattle of machines and the rumble of the plasma drives drove the usual silence of the Normandy scuttling away to the dark corners of the engineering levels. Tali was in her element down here, the engineer on all fours as she dragged herself from vent to vent, her tool belt jingling loudly as she moved. She took a left, a holographic map twirling before her eyes, projected from the single glowing omni tool.

Her omni-tool; it looked majorly different to any other piece of hardware Shepard had ever bought his crew. Heavily adapted by the Quarian, the holographic gauntlet was a myrid range of colours, several segments of Quarian text running across its surface as nano machines slowly broke down several components into omni-gel. Heavily updated, with all capcitors operating at full to allow increased power draw from the hacking modules implanted in the area around her wrist. Tali's own omni-gel satchel was groaning with the clear fluid, its black plastic material was literally bulging with the excessive amount of gel inside; Tali had left it hanging from a random air vent somewhere near the hub of the vast array of pipes which ran from the engine room.

Maintence Shaft Two…she activated the torch, lights illuminating the words painted above her head in large white letters…quite near the drive core excretion valve. There was a buzz in her ear as she reached for a hand hold, pulling herself up into another large shaft which ran at a near 90 degree angle from Maintenance Shaft Two. Ahead, the blue fire of the engine core was slowly pirouetting down the tube. Infatuated with such raw power, Tali, extending one finger, allowed herself one brief brush with the single fire strand, the energy causing her skin to tingle…as well as the static to crack across the tightly fastened exterior of her suit. The alien winced beneath the mask. She wasn't exactly wearing as much as she did usually. She'd ditched her scarf and hood back on the engine deck as well as several amour plates, just leaving the suit's under-skin and relevant environment suit regalia. Some said it was tight fitting, she got the feeling that some of the men would be drooling if they were down with her.

But then there weren't any men down with her, Tali preferring not to use the drones the engineers usually used to maintain the interior of the maintenance shafts, their brightly coloured eyes always put her on edge, memories of other bright eyed synthetics springing to mind as she worked. However, past problems were quailing with the current issue. The annoying buzz in her ear was back and at last Anderson managed to get a clear signal.

"Sorry, drive core is interfering with the radio. Do you want me to cancel the drive output into maintenance?"

"No, I'll be fine…" Tali, surrounded by millions of glowing particles as the engine output valves ejected surplus energy down the tubes, pulled herself forward. They were merely heat particles which held tiny amounts of element zero which caused the particles to glow; Tali allowed herself a brief giggle as one brushed her foot.

"…do you want me to get you a coffee when you get out?"

"Yeah…make sure its…."

"Red Cup, yeah we know." Adam's said tactfully, the Quarian shaking her head.

"I can see the hydration nozzle ahead. Looks as though the overheating we've got in the ducts is something to do with something blocking the nozzle." She gripped the large silver nozzle with one hand, extracting a large disgusting lump with two fingers.

"Keelah….that's…..ugh….even I can smell that….ugh…..disgusting."

"Ah…." Adams quickly ran his hands over the diagnostic panel, taking a quick glance at one image which rolled by before his eyes. In the image, the Normandy internal plumbing was picked out in blazing lines of neon blue. "…hydration is supplied by the waste water tanks which aren't separated into the water recycling tanks…"

"Yeah…" Tali interjected "…waste water ejected through the hydration nozzles, flooding the engineering tubes before been recollected after passing through condensers to return water to its original form…."

"…exactly…" Adams activated the image with a twitch of his finger "…looks as though we've got a hole in the filter in number seven. Beck…!" he waved one other engineer over "…take a look in seven and get a new filter installed."

"Yes Boss."

"Ugh…" Tali extracted her hand as the blockage came clear "…that's disgusting."

"Well, we've had worse. At least that stuff is filtered before it enters the tank. We had damage from a meteorite which tore a hole in the baffles, punctured sewage tank 5 on maintenance shaft one. We had raw stuff pouring into that shaft for three days and we couldn't get the drones near it, it kept frying their systems."

"None Water proofed drones, which bos'tets installed those."

"Alliance brass; me and Beck had to shimmy down there in re-breather suits and weld it closed by hand"

Tali shuddered, thinking of Adams well pressed suit and then the foul smelling hell which had once flooded maintenance shaft one.

"You must have stunk."

"I did…I had leave the next day for the week, so when I got home…let's just say Mrs Adams had me out in the shed with fan and a lot of air freshener." The sound of the Quarian's laughing filled the line. Adams smiled, for such a friendly person; it was rare to hear Tali laugh. You could hear the humour in her voice at times…but a whole new aspect of the girl, even within her suit, made him feel a little differently. Tali had already burned through most of the ship's manuals and had a healthy supply of Star Ship magazines which Adams lent to her. Respect wasn't the word, more…fondness.

"That's clear…" Tali looked up into the entrance to the shaft. There was a large amount of heat particles now, each like small glowing worms which flowed through the air, disappearing as they pushed into the cold maintenance shaft. Tali sighed, watching them go before taking another quick glance at the top of the tube. Beyond the exhaust tubes, the engine was whirring in its cradle, creating quite a light show on the roof of the exhaust.

"…looks as thought there's a blockage on the exhaust port."

"Leave it Tali…" Adams ran another diagnostic, several nano-bots feeding him a long stream of data from within the tubes "…not while the engine's running."

"Don't worry, engine purge isn't for another few hours, Shepard want's us to be clear of the station before we eject waste heat. He doesn't want to us to cause another hull breach like we did in the citadel."

"The Keepers were not happy…"

"Neither was C-Sec…" Tali reached the grille which blocked the engine exhaust, banging her head on an overhanging strut "…ow! I don't know what was worse; the hole in the interior hull or the fact Shepard had me do all the explaining."

"Big up yours to the beauracrats. An Alien labelled a vagrant by the council species standing before a large group of rather pissed off soldiers and explaining to them exactly what the problem was. Shepard said it made a point, that a 'vagrant'…"

"Hey…" Tali said softly, putting her weight to a burnt on hunk of blackened metal, the resident blockage of the exhaust port "…I am not a vagrant."

"Sorry, Tali…Shepard thought it would stir a few tail feathers, make them see that we're working together as one rather then a big gap between the council races."

"So what…I'm a tool of race relations…" Tali ground her teeth, not sure what made her angrier, the burnt on chunk of metal blocking the engine or the Commander's attempts at race relations. "…bosh'tet!"

"Look…Shepard made the point; he found it a good way to show the races that it is possible to show the council that everyone can work together. I'm not a great one for politics…" Adams braced himself on either side of the console, watching Tali's blip on the map "…but there is nothing wrong with what Shepard did…look at it. He doesn't treat you or the others like a 'tool'."

Tali paused, her hands wrapped round the strut. "No…"

"Good, Wrex and Shepard seem to get along fine, Garrus, I barely see him so can't comment, in-fact, he has no hate for any of you."

"Yeah…" Tali let her mind wander back to the time Shepard had grudgingly bought her a large set of new equipment. Heavily reinforced environment suit, with a new tool kit. That and a slowly revolving holographic ship which sat beside her work station. It was tiny, about the same size as her palm. On it, a Quarian Life Ship slowly rotated…He'd bought them all a gift after one mission went rather well. Wrex had schematics for some weapon which he'd been trying to build ever since, Garrus new barrels for his sniper rifles and a top model scram rail. Ashley, a new set of Ursa armour plates to replace her old phoenix suit, Kaiden, a top model amp and Liara; he'd bought her a bed.

All the gifts were obviously for the improvement of squad performance, Tali could easily see that. That's how Shepard's mind worked. However, the delicate holo which Shepard had left in her hammock all those weeks ago was defiantly not an aid for improving performance.

"Keelah…!" she swore, slamming her fist into the stubborn lump "…why won't you move! Move you Bosh'tet!" She wrenched hard at the metal, gaining a resounding creak from the grate.

"Try to be a little more delicate, Tali…" There was a large BANG from beneath the floor, Adam's shaking his head "…Delicate Tali, that wasn't delicate."

Tali had given up yanking at the piece of metal and with one loud shriek, slammed her boot into the reluctant lump.

* * *

The floor of the med-bay jolted violently as Wynne raised his eyes from his work, reaching for a scalpel. Alarmed, Dr Chakwas, her apron stained with blue blood raised her eyes to the ceiling.

"Did we just hit something, Jeff?"

"Nothing, Dr Chakwas…" Joker buzzed back, alarms echoing through the ship as the lights flickered "…I'm reading an increased output from one of the exhaust ports. We're running at full power…" there was a distinct tapping sound as Joker ran some kind of diagnostic "…capacitors are running fine, efficiency values…" Joker paused "…running at 90%. That's an improvement to an hour ago."

"Any logged weapon discharges?"

"No…" Kaiden's voice rolled into Chakwas's hearing "…Wrex isn't close to even developing his little 'toy'. Ashley is up in the mess and Garrus….Garrus is in some quiet corner somewhere, I think his pride's a little hurt."

"Fine…Fine…" Chakwas deactivated the link with a brief 'thankyou' to the two men "…sorry about that."

"Don't worry, I'm used to the interruptions anyway, you should do this while been shot at…" Wynne extracted his hand from the Asari's chest cavity, the amount of blood which ran up to his elbow causing Liara, who stood beside the Dr's desk, her own clothing covered with a loose plastic apron, to blanch visibly.

"I understand if you want to leave…" Wynne didn't look up from his work, dropping a kidney into the dish beside him "…I guess you're not exactly comfortable with seeing one of your own cut up."

"I've seen worse…" Liara tore her eyes from the gaping hole in the dead asari's chest "…I mean, if I ever go groundside…bullet wounds…still…" she fiddled with the edge of her apron "…I do feel a little ill."

"Then go have a sit down, it's going to get worse…" Wynne ground his teeth, allowing Liara the briefest of glances into the open chest cavity. She left in hurry, leaving the apron slowly twirling in the air. Wynne barely registered her passing "…poor girl. Not exactly nice to see one of her own in pieces. Surgically anyway…I guess the Commander has a way of leaving most of the people he kills in little pieces…" he eyed the prone body on the operating table beside them "…don't exactly bode well for me does it…"

"No, I expect the Commander will be rather annoyed when he comes too…" Chakwas took one of the bowls beside Wynne and emptied its gore covered contents into a large container beside her desk. "…want to keep anything?"

"No…most of this stuff is starting to smell anyway, best burn it when you have chance…" Wynne stuck his head into the chest cavity once again, trying to extract some random object from within "…you do have an incinerator on board don't you? Oh…c'mon me lovely." The last part of his speech was directed at whatever he was attempting to extract at that time, making full use of the already massive hole in the Asari.

"Yes…the Alliance thought it'd be best…" Chakwas sighed "…they expected we'd be on high risk operations and they wanted to make sure we had suitable devices to deal with medical wastes…." She shuddered, looking a little mournful "…or if we are in deep space, if we lose someone."

"Oh…" Wynne, wrung his hands, blue blood dribbling away into the drains on the floor. He extracted his hand from the ragged hole and groaned irritably "…oooh, looks like's I'm going to have to go in through the sternum…" he ran his fingers over his instruments and shot Chakwas a look "…why so mournful Doctor, do autopsies usually make you this depressed…" he glanced back at the body "…forget I asked. Because it's a dead body…of course you dolt. I mean, unless you've got that ghoulish sense of humour…" He finished, more reprimanding himself. "…hah…Tim…ahahahaha."

"So David…" Chakwas picked another organ bowl, resting it beside the Pathologist's elbow "…last I heard, you'd retired from Exo-Geni. What've you been up to since?"

"Exo-Geni…well, got fed up of them after the Fero's incident came to light..." he selected a scapel and drew a line along the ribs "…no, I wasn't involved, I'm a pathologist and an optician, surgeon…"

"And then some…" Chakwas said with a smile, Wynne grinning ruthlessly.

"Not getting involved with any of their stupid attempts at pioneering. Deal with clean up, hearings…and then some, yes…some." Wynne tapped his chin thoughtfully. "…Starting autopsy of body of an Asari Female, during matron stage. Victim died of severe trauma to chest cavity….secondary after death trauma from Geth Dragons Teeth instrument…a technology supplied by the Reapers." He said matter of factly, running his eyes across the naked blue flesh. "…first incision made."

"What…!" Chakwas raised an eyebrow "…how do you know about the Reapers!"

"Read the right Files, did my own research…" Wynne put his weight to the Asari's chest "…and looked at him…" he waved his arm at the prone body of the Commander who lay on the bed beside them. "…Prothean Technology lodged in his brain, converts prothean data to human conscious, or in my theory, takes the commander one step closer to ascension to Prothean physiology…what…!" he glanced up at Chakwas's rather shocked expression "…I'm very well read."

"That takes a great deal of time to find out this kind of information, we've barely been flying two months so far…" perturbed, Chakwas gripped another bowl in hard fingers "…we've only supplied the council. You've really done the research."

"Pays to be well informed, specially with my expertise…" there was crack and the rib cage snapped open with a flicker of blue blood "…rigor mortis had barely time to set in before been set on that spike. Reaper Technology…always screws up the bodies…like turning the insides to dust…barely any technological adaption usually involved with the creation of 'husks' however. Possibly the body…and this is a theory…" he took a quick glance at the pale face of the asari "…has to be alive for organic adaption to cybernetic physiology transfer to occur."

"You're avoiding the question…" Chakwas set the bowl down and folded her arms "…how do you know all this?"

"I'm like a hound, sniffing out answers, always looking for the truth…" Wynne looked at his blood stained gloves "…or a three headed hound…or at least I was…Now with all that aside, may we continue."

"Alright, fine…" Chakwas let the subject drop, she knew better then to pursue something Wynne wished to keep secret. She took the blood filled bowl beside Wynne and stalked away to her desk, returning a few minutes later with a fresh one "…so how's your study of cybernetics going?"

"Well, till Exo-Geni cut my funding. I was able to fully restore nervous and immune systems…for a short time…" he paused, grinning with concentration, up to his arm in the chest "…I could've of done more if I'd had the time. I still can, if the Alliance will let me. Overly strong, immuno-boosters. One Pop, restores the Immune system for a matter of hours…few problems…tweaks I need to work out…unseen side effects….increased pupil dilation, drug like addiction…heightened reaction times….leading to doziness….death…."

"Don't go near Tali…" Chakwas's said warningly. "…Shepard would kill me."

"He already wants to kill me…and we've barely met…." Wynne dug a probe into the soft tissue within the Asari's chest "…don't worry. I'm a doctor. Even if I worked for Exo-Geni, I believe in preserving human life, not removing or putting people through experiments with extreme risks. Tried and tested, I do prefer and people I worked with were voluntary." He spoke rapidly, barely taking a breath putting Chakwas in mind of salarians. Wynne blinked owlishly as something pressed against his probe.

"There's something else in here. Forceps please."

Chakwas passed him the Forceps as Wynne continued with his own little life history.

"Worked for Exo-Geni, left, wandered around, went to Omega to train in one of the slum districts, then went to a wide range of colonies, alien and not, went to the flotilla for a brief time, the Quarians' had some kind of air borne virus that needed looking at by an outside source. Turned out to be a common cold…" He inserted the forceps, tightening his grip on the instrument's plastic coated handles "…left, then bummed around a little bit…got some experience in the terminus…served with some Alliance Private called Taylor, left as did he and then got your message…" there was a loud crack as he wrenched something clear, dumping a large thorn shaped object into a kidney dish "…ooh goody, the reason for death…we've found…" Chakwas grinned widely as Wynne looked on nonplussed "…sorry, think too much, loose track of words which go way."

"It's nice to see you again, David." Chakwas shook her head with a grin.

"And you too, Hacksaw…" Wynne raised the Kidney dish to his face, glaring owlishly at the object within "…Asari Physiology, very simple, like human, just different colour. Toyed with the idea about the creation of mind tricks to give the impression of beautiful human women to all those who view them, differing depending on the race. Thought better of it….didn't particularly want to ruin the idea of the asari for anyone else…"

"You still talk fast…"

"Yeah…tried….to…speak….slower…for…a…time…gave me terrible migraines, way too much concentration. I speak like this or…a little slower. Not much…" he doused his hands in a nearby washbowl "…time to speak slow. However, not up to Dr Solus standards however." He made a noise in his throat half way between a snigger and a cough.

"Who?"

"Doesn't matter, old guy on Omega. So why are you serving on this ship…" Wynne turned back to the corpse, leaning across to extract the cover "…I'd of thought you'd of settled down by now. Small quiet backwater somewhere, a little clinic, never thought you'd still be the military type."

"Well…"

"Please don't tell me, it's because of your old romantic dreams of blue eyed soldiers with big muscles and deep souls to whisk you away into their arms, whispering sweet nothings into your ear…aren't you too old for this?"

"Hey…!" Chakwas swung at Wynne as the Dr pulled the cover over the dead body. Wynne ducked athletically, taking the kidney dish with him. "…because I chose too."

"Settling down was too much for you…" Wynne scuttled clear, rising up beside Chakwas's desk "…I know the feeling. Still, all the gits who graduated with us now own large luxury shuttles and hang around in wooden clad rooms with holographic fires, drinking brandy…" he eyed the single object in the dish and reached for one of Chakwas's magnifying glasses. "…while we wander round bloodstained med-bays struggling to save men who find it hard to stay alive…" He pressed the glass to his eye, dispelling the holographic display which appeared to assist him. "…hmmm."

"What is it?" Chakwas loaded the dishes onto a trolley and pushed out into the room beyond, making for the onboard clean room, its white surfaces ready for the blood stained items. When she returned, Wynne had the long, blood stained item spread across an inspection plate on the Dr's desk, Chakwas made a face as she realised there was blood running onto the unprotected desk's surface.

"Haemorrhaging connected with severe organ damage on this makes it likely that this is the thing that killed her. Right through the heart, however point of entry is unknown."

"How about the hole where the spike entered?"

"No…" Wynne waved her idea aside "…too high up in the chest cavity to be possible."

"What is that…?" Chakwas signalled at the objected "…looks like a thorn of some kind."

"It's Organic, by the looks of things…" he prodded it "…very hard, solid. Thorn of some kind, emits some kind of poison when it punctured, not enough to cause damage to the host but something else…hang on, not poison…" he dug a needle into the sample, extracting a small sliver of material. "…I'll need some time to look at this…"

"Well, you are quite welcome to fly with us…In fact Jeff has already taken off, we're headed to Tortuga."

"I will have to accept, if you want me to take a look at Shepard at some point, I could give him implants for 'these'…" he waved a finger at his own eyes "…I even think I have some in grey too, just like Shepard's were. However…" Wynne slid the thorn into a plastic bag and dropped it into a nearby drawer "…look at that later. Why Tortuga?"

* * *

"Because we're following the last known ship to dock with Mal's refuelling station…" Kaiden took a swig of his coffee, in the cockpit as Joker settled back in his chair, enjoying the ride as they powered out of the Kailen system, making for the vast Mass Relay which erupted from the black, captured in the shadow of a muddy brown gas giant, the brown Dwarf dubbed Jayne's Reach after one old Folk Hero. "…Tortuga was the next known destination. Registered to a ship dealers known as…" Kaiden ran his hand over the mission report and turned a page "…Badger"

"Do you ever get the feeling this is a little outside our scope…I mean…" Joker sighed, as they joined the shipping lane which ran from Kaylien station to the nearby Mass Relay. "…aren't we on some mission to save the universe or something."

The shipping lane was filled with hundreds of ships, each making their way toward the relay between light buoys which hung in space. Joker coasted forward, gesturing wildly to one Volus vessel which flashed its main lights at them, before gunning the engines and passing beneath.

"Whatever…" Kaiden replied, eyeing the nearly empty coffee cup in his hands "…the Commander wouldn't do it unless it was important. I'm happy following his orders for now. Shepard's a good guy…"

"Yeah, well….move your ass…!" An elcor vessel rolled by, struggling to avoid a Turian Frigate which had attempted to butt in from one of the light buoys. "…I get the feeling we're going to be screwed over. Call me paranoid but I don't like this."

"You're Paranoid. Shepard is a good leader and he knows what he's doing. He won't waste alliance resources…or risk our lives."

"Shepard is currently unconscious in the medbay thanks to our newest addition."

"The Commander was specific about this…even if he's not present…" Alenko grimaced as Joker lent forward in his chair.

"Whatever….I'm getting a bad feeling…"

"You always get bad feelings. Remember that stew Wrex made, you got bad feelings then, and that wasn't related to the mission or gut instinct…" Kaiden's brows knitted in thought "…actually, maybe the latter."

Joker gunned the engines once again, ignoring the comment, checking in the rear view mirror as he did so.

"So….finished smashing up the Hold have we, Garrus? Going to spread some chaos and discord up here then?"

Joker looked up from his console as Kaiden snorted into his coffee, the LT's face reddening as Garrus shot him a glare.

"No…" Garrus said coolly as Joker settled back into his chair, pulling a screen toward him with a twitch of his fingers. The pilot and the LT were both obviously diagnosing several ship mainframes while in flight, though from the several images which whipped across Kaiden's screen, Kaiden was also taking advantage of the ship's Ethernet systems.

"Touch the fluffy dice and I swear, I will end you." Joker said reproachfully as Garrus sank down into the adjacent chair, the Turian eyeing the bright pink monstrosities which hung from one of the corners of the main console. Joker patted them with a degree of reverence before turning back to his consoles.

To be in the cockpit was a thing of rarity for Garrus. He rarely ventured beyond the mess hall and hold, preferring to stay out of the way of most of the crew. There was some animosity toward him; the Turian war machine had a lot to answer for amongst the Alliance, especially the Commander who treated Garrus as if the Turian race owed him a great deal. Garrus let it slide…he had the feeling it would take time.

"So…uh….what are you doing?"

"Flying a ship, moron."

"Joker."

"What? I didn't say anything…offensive…"

"Ignore him…" Kaiden turned to where Garrus sat, shrugging apologetically "…he's barely had time to have a break. Pressly got him back in the air after only 5 hours break…"

"And we're running out of coffee…" Joker said grumpily "…hate this job."

"You love it…" Kaiden shook his head "…in a ship, flying, dangerous situations."

"Fegging Traffic jams…" the Normandy whirled aside, avoiding a massive Volus Fuel Tanker, the large containers making the ship's already wide back-end seem even wider. "…thank god we're running on full efficiency…move you stupid son's of bitches!"

"Right…calculating mass and transit…" Kaiden cracked his fingers, the whirr of diagnostic panels began to fill the space as with the fast approaching relay, the LT began the routines necessary for FTL flight "…calculating drift."

"Why do it now…" Joker caused the ship to dance, nose dipping low as he hit the reverse thrusters, the ship jolting downward "…we've got loads of time."

"Too many variables, too little time..." Kaiden hummed, rushing through the numbers "…fed up of been caught short on the drift….remember last time."

"Hrrrrrmm."

"What happened…" Garrus broke his gaze with the ships which were rushing by, looking vaguely queasy beneath his scales. "…what did you two do?"

"Joker?" Kaiden shot Joker a rather dark look, Joker audibly grinding his teeth.

"I…" Joker did a rather violent manoeuvre on the console; narrowly avoiding the glimmering shape of an Asari cruiser "…may have been dragged into the mass field of an Alliance cruiser. We miscaluted the drift."

"Why…how much did you miscalculate by?"

"Fihundddeeedded." Joker grumbled.

"What was that…?" Kaiden said jovially "…we didn't hear what you said, Mr Munroe!"

"Five hundred thousand miles."

"You wha…!" Garrus swore loudly in Turian, Joker reddening under his hat "…five hundred thousand miles!"

"Hit a cruiser's mass field in FTL, nearly eighty thousand credits worth of damage."

"Ouch…"

"Let's not go over that all over again. Let's just say, one Admiral would of nearly had my arse pinned over his door if the Commander hadn't stepped in…" Joker said grimly, his cheery attitude waning gradually. "…he absolutely killed me afterwards."

"Is Shepard always like that…" Kaiden looked up from his work as Garrus spoke "…harsh, I mean, to all of you or is it just me…?"

"No, its not you…mostly..." Kaiden said, swirling the dregs of his drink "…nothing personal…he just doesn't like Turians in general. Whole load of bad blood…lot of old wounds…" Kadien took a long drag from his coffee and stared out of the window for a second, several cruisers whipping by as Joker accelerated "…oh…and hiding behind a chair is not going to help you if we crash."

"I wasn't hiding…" Garrus replied reproachfully as Joker snorted "…I dropped my monocle."

"Don't let it get to you…" Joker said, making for single blue orb of the Mass Relay "…Kaiden…we all squared away...?"

"Yeah, Trans Mass Destination calculated…We've for Solar winds in the Tortuga quadrant so expect drift of 50 miles."

"Oh, is that all…" Joker brought up one panel "…I was hoping we could do some Drift surfing."

"Sorry…not this time." They broke from the mass of Traffic, the engines keening through the deck plates as Joker realigned the booster jets, lining them up with the Relay. Ahead, another Volus Tanker was making ready for the jump. It was gone in the blink of an eye, hull discharge flickering along the massive arms of the relay. The afterimage was burned into Garrus's eyes for a brief second before Joker too was dragged into orbit beside the single glowing orb.

"Oh…" Garrus gripped the edge of his chair "…I always hate this."

"5…why?...4…"

"Makes me feel like I'm gonna throw up…" Garrus eyed the ball of blue fire and grimaced.

"Whoa whoa whoa…2. If you're going to do that, do it out the air lock…" Joker raised his arms pleadingly as Kaiden cast a warning look at the monitors.

"Engaging Mass Effect Core."

"It's the lurch that…."

"1"

Immediately, the space beyond the windows whirled into a vast multicoloured spectrum as with a horrible, gut wrenching lurch, the ship tore into FTL Speeds.

"Now the problem is avoiding the Volus tanker that's waiting at the other end. With a mass like that, it's not going to drift far…" Kaiden sank back into his seat, clenching the edge of his seat. "…I don't want to be as flat as a pancake when we finish. Hitting a mass field is one thing…chunk of metal; that can get expensive."

"Oh its easy…"Joker said jovially, happy unlike his companions "…You know…flying…its not that hard…a light turns on. I press it….not building confidence with you am I, Garrus?"

There was another lurch, the engines which had been once a keening noise, now slowed, the normal rumble of engines returning. Outside, the multicoloured spectrum of light speed travel gave way to space stars now glimmering through the thick glass, the hull now discharging a great deal of neon blue cloud

"You see, no problems…How're you feeling Garrus?" Joker twisted in his chair. Kaiden, looked up, blanched and tapped Joker on the shoulder

"Ship…"

"See, nice drift…only 50 miles from the Relay."

"…argh…ship…"

"Perfectly done…

"...Joker….um…ship…"

"…hit the eye of the needle…"

"…eh…ship…

"And that's why they say I'm the best pilot in the alliance…"

"...ah…ship…"

"See, only I can pull that off with such ease…" Joker was grinning with pride. "…I mean, we didn't even have to worry about the Tanker."

"...SHIP!"

"What is it…?" Joker pushed Kaiden's arms off his shoulder "…stop it, stop it. What the hell are you playing at!"

They all turned in unison as the gigantic back end of the Volus Tanker blocked the view of space beyond them.

"Oh…Ship…" Joker slammed his palm onto the engine panel, cancelling thust, reversing the thrusters as proximity alarms began to ring out through the bridge. Deftly, he dragged the engine nodules forward, boosting the drives to full capacity. The ship whirled to one side, the brakes causing the deck plates to groan as in a keening sound of anxiety; Joker could be heard over the noise;

"…shit shit shit shit shit shit..." several more holographic panels flicked down under his fingers, the nose cone rolling down as they burst forward, making for the gap beneath the engines "…shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit…" the base of the Volus ship was roaring by above, Joker gunned the engines as in a nerve wracking minute, they waltzed round a comm. unit which stuck accusingly from the underside. At last, with a roar of engines, which set the deck plates quivering in their holdings, they blasted through to the space on the other side, leaving the Tanker and its rather irate Volus Captain behind with a flash of the tail lights.

Joker plugged in the autopilot and sank back in his chair, exhaling loudly as beside him, both Garrus and Kaiden attempted to unclench their hands from the seat edges.

"You…err…really dropped the ball there…" Kaiden volunteered eventually, all aware that Pressly stood behind them, with his arms folded.

"Yeah…"

"Let's never do that again…"

"Yeah…"

* * *

Adams pushed through the smoke just as Joker warbled through the intercom that they were clear of the relay. Within the ducts, his HUD rolled before his eyes as behind the thick visor, the respirators whirred and clicked; a small Map twirling just at the base of his vision showing his progress. Even with the core powered down, the map still showed signs of interference, the image flickering as the shortwave radios fizzled and squeaked in his ear

"Making my way to…" Adams sent his torch running across the walls of the shaft, his breaths coming hard and laboured within the stifling interior of the suit "…see anything on the scans?"

"Too much heat…" Enginneer Beck, his voice barely sounding over the distortion of the drive core "…can't see a damn thing."

"Blast it…" Adams dragged himself onward, the hulking suit scraping off all four walls as within the small space, he was on all fours. These shafts, though easily accessed, were not supposed to be accessed while the exhaust ducts were on full, Adams's suit was most defiantly not supposed to fit into these tight spaces. "…why in hell did we let this happen…wait…I see movement ahead…"

There was hideous shriek of pain which ran through the suit's sensor arrays and set Adams teeth on edge. Sweating, he could barely see through the smoke which ran through the shafts. His vision obscured, he kept his head down, sweat beading on his skin as inch by inch, he dragged himself forward, every breath laboured within the intense heat. The Krogan would love it, but then he wasn't a korgan...

Something touched his arm, some vile and squirming thing which dragged across his armour's surface, Adams tilted his head back to gaze further into the tube as the thing tugged at him…He tried to penetrate the smoke over his hand, trying to glimpse the thing which touched him so desperately, the acrid smelling mist which swamped him clouding his every move. That thing still gently tugged at his arm, Adams swearing as alarms began to echo through his suit as around him, near claustrophobia set into what could be described as panic for Adams…he had risked a lot to come into these tubes, his sanity mainly, especially with the tight, restrictive space of the suit which constricted his chest with metal bands and the metal pressing against his head. He took another long laboured gasped as he grasped the thing which rested on his hand…

"Temperatures rising, Sir…!" Beck yelled into the microphone as on the monitors, Adams heart rate increased, the smell of burning plastic beginning to emanate rather worryingly within his suit.

"Vent it…vent the blasted tubes…!" Adams swore, gasping as he struggled to keep his breaths calm and slow as behind him, engineer Higgins dragged the medikit up to his back "…get the smoke out of here now!"

"Sir…" Beck pulled his blue cap down further over his eyes, running his hand over the console, his fingers activating several sigils as he worked "…opening vent 15 and 5, ejecting to open space."

There was a roar of noise down in the smoke filled corridors, the vents at either end of the complex array of shafts clanking open into the empty depressurised space beyond. The shaft was flooded with a dull, aching cold, the secondary grills rolling down to block Adams from been torn out into the void. The suits were good, just not good enough to withstand such a loss of pressure, the oxygen tanks would only last so long. Through the screaming winds, Adams braced himself against the metal floor as through gritted teeth, he realised what the thing was, the thing that had been gently tugging at his left arm.

A three fingered arm, which was attached to an arm, which was attached to a…melted mess.

"Shit…Tali…!" Adams rushed forward, tearing the Quarian's battered body from the floor with a squelching sucking noise. From behind the hideously warped visor, where the single dot of her light still flickered, though weakly, the noise of a drawn out and sobbing noise begin to grate against Adams ears. Her suit had melted around her being, the material flowing downward to cocoon the woman in an almost impenetrable layer. Legs had become stiffened lumps of black material, her chest more like a battleground then a distinctive part of her, the padding having surrounded her abdomen and stomach in a sticky clump of plastic and soft felt. What was left of her belt broke from her body as the mewling, frightened thing in Adams's arms clawed at the black, oil covered armour. Adams wore as he looked on with such a feeling of pity that he felt his stomach drop like a lead weight as he hugged her burned and trapped body to his chest, gently but quickly dragging her clear.

That wasn't Tali…that wasn't the girl he'd seen only an hour ago…Adams was stoic and silent as she was taken from his arms by Beck and Chakwas, other engineers snapping the clasps around his neck and breaking the seal, allowing the elderly engineer to take a deep breath. Higgins too, snapping the clasps open to reveal the mousy but messy hair beneath, grabbed Adams and tried to get some response from his leader but was ignored. He was still sitting there beside the open grate as she was lifted onto the gurney and rolled away, the shouts of the crew as Tali…her hands still clasping for someone to help her, within her shell like cocoon which her suit had formed as blind, deaf and paralysed, she was left alone in the dark, even if the crew crowded round her…

Even in the darkness however, grey eyes flashed from the black…


	10. Book 1: Plastic Beach

Right, next chapter up. The next three chapters were supposed to be one in all, just after finding the whole thing covered nearly twenty pages and for the sake of my and your sanity, i thought it was wise to split it up. Makes it easier to read and will also increase the amount of cliff hangers. Sorry this chapter took so long, i'm in the throes of revising at the moment. However, as they're already written, the next chapters will be posted in quick succession.

Enjoy. Things truly start getting interesting from this point onward.

* * *

A single white light midst the sea of orange consoles, the small holo slowly rotated within the rattling noise of the engine room. Picked out in small white particles, the shape of a Quarian life ship hovered only a matter of inches from the surface of the small silver metal disk projector and cast glimmering lights over the walls.

The crew continued to work, the burn through had pushed the ship to its limits and efficiency had improved greatly, the blockage now clear. Even so, with so much work, it seem as though a dark pall hung over the group. Adams, his movements sluggish, waited beside his monitor as with eyes set in a far off expression of deep thought, he stared into the blazing blue of the drive core.

Higgins jogged up and saluted, his mousy hair dragged backward with copious amounts of engine grease, his face daubed quite liberally with the stuff. Even as foul smelling as he was, it didn't gain the attention of the elderly engineer; Adams didn't look round, the old man lost in some thought. Higgins cleared his throat before at last, in an accent most other crew members except Shepard and Chakwas couldn't understand, attempted to gain a response from his commanding officer;

"The capacitors ur alignin' perfectly tae cope wi' th' increase power ootage tae th' med-bay, we're nae gonnae hae onie problems fur noo. God knows whit they're daein' up there…" Adams still didn't respond, though he tilted his head toward the younger engineer "…anyway, we waur wonderin' if we coods jist grab a bit ay caller air. Me ay th' lads waur wantin' a bit ay dinner afair we begin th' nicht shift…" he paused, fiddling with the data pad he had slung under his arm "…we waur wonderin' if ye wanted tae join us…sir?"

"I'm going to have to have you repeat what you just said…" Adams said after a time "…because I can't for the life of me work out what you just said…" Higgins sighed and opened his mouth. "…with the smallest use of Scottish."

"Dinner. Please. Now. You?" Higgins sighed, rolling his eyes as Adams looked away. the Translators were extremely good at dealing with Alien languages, though slang always raised a few issues when it came to crossing interspecies boundaries. Elocution was key, and there was nothing like a new can of worms, when the translator struggled to work its way through the many accents which crawled out of the woodwork. Higgins was no exception, his broad accent raising a few eyebrows amongst the top brass every-time.

One such eyebrow raising moment when Joker was struggling with the controls on his first flight with the Normandy with Higgins screaming into the intercom; "We're givin' 'er aw we've got, th' engines cannae tak' it nae mair…!" There'd been a pause at this point as it seemed that several important pieces of equipment had caught fire in the lower levels. This all filtered through the bridge speakers, leaving Joker and the residents of the bridge with the noise of crackling flames, small explosions which set the deck plates a tremble and gruffly loud swear words. It was a full five minutes before Higgins had returned, Anderson pinching the bridge of his nose between finger and thumb as the rather foul mouthed engineer laid in Joker with; "…Teel th' feckin' radge tae gie his act together ur we're gonnae hae a massife burn through in engineerin'!"

The Turian delegation aboard at the time had all exchanged glances after this small outburst before leaving having each developed a small migraine. Adams had banned Higgins from using the intercom after that.

"I'll be fine for now…" Adams let forward heavily, his arms bowing outward "…you take the others and get a break. We've got a long day tomorrow."

"Understuid, sairrr..." There was the slightest movement beside the head engineer, Adams all too aware that the younger of the team still stood beside him with a vaguely worried expression on his face "…ur ye alrecht, sairrr?"

"I'm fine…" Adams responded quietly, tapping several diagnostic panels "…just calibrating the forward tanks."

"Dornt fash yerse, sairrr. She's gonnae pull through, we've got th' tois best doctors in th' alliance an' otherwise onboard."

"Haven't you got a dinner to go to?" Adams said flatly, Higgins saluting quickly before disappearing in a cloud of oil odour and grease. Adams turned back to his work with a deep breath. His left eyebrow twitched…of course the forward tanks were elevated and perfectly calibrated, the numbers displaying so burning round his fingers. But the thoughts of the hand desperately grasping his own down in the exhaust pipes still clouded his eyes…

And in the corner of the room, the Holo continued to hum away to itself

* * *

The rumble of engines was ever present in Shepard's mind as groggily he came to. The whine and click of machines filled his ears with song, his disorientation soon dissipating as the Dr's familiar voice filtered into his hearing. She spoke of lengthy reports, medical tests, REM recordings, these all flooded his mind as still blind, Shepard made to rise.

"I would stay still if I were you…" A familiar male voice accompanied the arm that pushed him back down onto the table. Without the restraining straps which held him down, Shepard would've been able to break from the weak grip of Dr Wynne. As he couldn't, he merely growled loudly. "…ok…I'm happy to see you too, Commander…" there was a slight intake of breath as if the man in question was attempting to say something long winded "…Ok. I'm going to be performing surgery on you, commander. We are installing twin optical implants to restore your vision…down boy…" not sensing a threat, Shepard slumped back down onto the bed, allowing the Dr to continue "…give you a few boosters; maybe influence your long range vision. Of course the alliance fitted you with optical lenses to monitor you movements ahaha…" Shepard felt slightly colder as gloved fingers tugged at the corners of his eyes "…remove those. I've got a lovely pair of grey to replace your lovelies. We'll have you seeing in no time…" there was a faint tinkle of metal and plastic as a slight pain of something digging into Shepard's arm broke through the noise. Shepard winced as the drug began to push its way into his system. He could feel muscles relaxing, sinking into the soft….soft….felt of the bed….oh this was lovely….Shepard let his head loll, a quick but gentle hand pushing him back into a more accessible position.

"Ok…Commander…I've just administered the sedative. I'll be requiring to test your vision when you get up. Recovery will be short so be prepared for anything I throw at you. Reaction in your optical muscles will need to be quick if we want you to return your usual vision parameters…oh…" there was a faint click as several scapels were pulled from a plastic container "…and don't try to punch me when I get up. I know you're still angry at me so please try to be a little nice to me. I am fixing your eyes after all…"

"Nrrrrghh…."

"Good, just the response I was wanting. Right, this may sting a little…" there was another noise, something along the lines of a sniff, a long intake of breath through the nostrils "…actually just kidding. This is going to hurt like hell."

Shepard fled into blissful ignorance, his thoughts now becoming one with his dreams as in his mind's eye; Wynne raised a scalpel, shook his head and extracted a cleaver from the mess beside him. Even in his stupor, Shepard hoped this wasn't true.

* * *

Cold hands pushed round the sides of his eyes, their touch soothing. He could feel rain falling his face, his hands gripping someone else's, he could feel the rough skin of each digit of the others, the faint intake of breath as his grip tightened. The cool fingers still rested beside his eyes as Shepard struggled to rise. But it felt as though something was missing, a dull painful emptiness up his left side.

"Shepard." It was spoken forcefully but with such an undertone of pity that Shepard felt his inside shrivel. He fell back into unconsciousness with the cool hands still on his face and the pitter patter of rain filling his hearing.

* * *

Shepard slowly surfaced from his sleep to a world filled with pain. In the cool air of the med bay, Shepard kept his eyes closed for a second, just trying to ignore the stinging sensation of his weakened skin. The lights burned into his vision as if it was the brightest of days as with some difficulty he levered his eyes open and glared out into the light filled world beyond. …his vision…Shepard laughed, finding his chest free from the restrictive belts which hung from the metal table. His face hurt, stung even, his optical implants resting quite comfortably in his eye sockets though the scarring round his eyes would take some time to heal. Shepard felt tender skin, open wounds around the edge of his eye sockets, his fingers roving over the edge as he pulled himself upright. A hard substance, gel like to the touch but solid and structured when pressed hard. Shepard winced as the image in his left eye fizzled, coming slightly unclear till he withdrew his finger…

"Cool…" Shepard allowed his legs to swing down over the edge of the bed, marveling at the sight of his own hands, his feet touching the ground, the colour of the ground and the beauty of the lighting which filled his sight with soft colours. He dragged a robe from the bed, draping it around his form, knowing exactly what backless hospital gowns usually warranted, he didn't want to give Joker new material to spew over the intercom. Elation…Shepard could feel his heart soaring. Just been able to see all this, so familiar and yet so welcome. The familiar lines of the ship, the confined spaces of the med-bay, Chakwas's potted plant beside her desk was flowering and Shepard took in the pink colours of the flowers. Everything had a new edge, as with the wonderment of a child seeing the world for the first time, Shepard slowly turned, his sight taking in the many glowing colours of the Med Bay.

The med bay was empty, Shepard tightening the belt of the gown round his waist, padding quietly across the floor toward the door. It opened with slight tone, the lights of the mess hall blinding him for a brief second. Shepard's eyes stung, staggering backward as he struggled to register the dark, blurred shadows which passed through the room before him.

In that minute of blindness there was the scraping of chairs before something thundered across the floor, catching Shepard off guard. A red haired, peppermint smelling thing slammed into him, a single white sheet waving before Shepard's face as the Commander, attempting to fend of his assailant found his ears filled with a single roaring voice, each word merging into one, the speed and ferocity of which they were spouted making it seem to most like a single long noise.

"Readireaditreaditreaditreadit!"

"Argh…!" Shepard waved the blur away, struggling to register the line of black text which had been printed onto the piece of paper "…ah crap! A Z F G J H Y I O…!" his fist met something solid and there was a cry of pain "…doesn't make sense!…Q Z X V G H S F H R T…!"

In that split second, Shepard felt his sight return, the room becoming sharply focused. He was greeted by Chakwas slowly stalking round the far corner, having been up on the bridge. Her face lit up as she spotted him, his blue med bay gown tightly secured across his form, his fist still curled into a fist as the single scrap of crumpled white paper fluttered before his vision.

"Shepard…!" she said, smiling quite happily as confused, Shepard managed a lop sided grin "…I see you've got up! And your vision is back I see the implants are fine…"she took a quick glance at the white paper, her smile becoming slightly fixed"…and I see you've just punched Dr Wynne…damn it…"

"Oh…" Shepard turned his head slightly to see Wynne beside him, still waving the sight chart, clutching at his nose "…sorry."

"Don't worry…" Wynne managed, his eyes watering "…I'm fine…I'm fine…just….arggh…I think you may have broken my nose…"

"Ouch…" Shepard looked vaguely sheepish as with a warning glare, Chakwas gathered her colleague up and marched him off in the direction of the med bay "…I'm sorry…just a bit of a nervous reaction."

The med bay door whirred shut, leaving Shepard with the blue and silver plastic of the portal. There was a rather uncomfortable silence, Shepard realizing that there had been a slight draw of breath. The entire ground team was frozen in place, a hastily put together breakfast scattered across the table before them. And they were all watching him, most with spoons half way to their mouths. Only Wrex, smirking as usual, didn't look shocked.

"What…!" Shepard put his hands on his hips "...what are you lot looking at…!" he waved his arm exasperatedly and made to pass them, making for the security of his quarters "…haven't you got something better to do! Get your stuff…in-fact…" Shepard scratched at his chin as there was a yell of complaint from the table, the crew gesturing at breakfast bowls "…I don't care!...Everyone gear up!...Now!" there was a chorus of 'Yes Sirs' and one, 'Fine, Andrew'. Shepard raised an eyebrow at the last comment, Liara reddening as she made for her locker on the lower levels. He let it slide, but took her arm as she passed.

"And how are you Miss Tsoni?"

"I'm fine, Shepard…" the Asari allowed her gaze to linger on the gnarled hand which dug into her upper arm "…I was a little worried…it's…please tell me if I'm wrong to be so forward…" she smiled slightly "…it's good to see you back."

"I'm not fully back…" Shepard tapped the corner of his eye "…at least not all of me."

"That's not what's important…" Liara patted his arm "…but I mean it all the same. We need you Commander…This Ship and its crew needs you to be here."

"Hmm…" Shepard looked back into the group, the groundside team busying themselves with their lockers or taking a long swig from their coffee cups. Ashley gave them one quick look, bit her lip and disappeared into the lift "…one thing…Liara."

"Yes, Shepard?"

"Where's Tali?"

* * *

The Normandy pushed through the cloud layer with a roar, water vapor playing round the super heated thrusters as Joker adjusted the Mass Fields and coasted the last three thousand metres. The harbor was a vast metal wall; remains of some cruiser, the name of which most of the population who thronged the streets below had long since forgotten which blotted out the sun as Joker pushed on. The Normandy was tugging under his fingers like a horse, wanting to be let free, which Joker refused grudgingly, powering down the major drive systems with a half contented smile of a job well done.

The Hanger was welded and secured to the side of the massive remains of the cruiser by a series of heavy duty perma-steel wires, blue running lights illuminating the dark metal of the dock and the silvery steel gantry of the landing ramps. Within the confines of the old wreck, many ramps, usually thronged with people and goods all coming off the ships, were the only access routes to the ships. To not put too harsh a point on it, they were normally contingents of Blue Suns, Smugglers or Pirates looking for a little shore leave in the many strip joints and bars which littered the large township. Even here, however, this was a massive civilian centre, not every house was some shadowy crime syndicate of some description or other. Even so, it paid to be cautious; a small tone warning Joker each time a Batarian Sensor was pinged by their presence. Shepard had taken it upon himself to strip the Normandy's exterior of any Alliance related regalia. This idea was quashed when Liara pointed out that the ship was white, red and black; the alliance colours. Shepard had gone to bed at that point, complaining of a migraine.

With one last pat of the main console, Joker tapped the main drive core modulator, the board flashing red before with a murmuring whine of engines, the Ship allowed itself to be engulfed by the mouth like docking ports.

"Why in God's name are you tagging along?"

Shepard's voice rang hard through the lift, the small crowd who shifted nervously within its confined interior, looking rather sheepishly toward the rather erstwhile man who stood, by the door, a large grey bag slung over one shoulder, two buds of tissue paper shoved up either nostril. They were a little bloody, Wynne wrapping one hand round the black plastic strap of his satchel.

"Because I need to keep an eye on you, Shepard. With your implants been new, I would need to be present just in case you have any accidents. Remember, if you see…"

"Black and White, yes I know, get you to fix me…"

"Exactly…and…?"

"Don't look at bright lights."

"…and…?"

"Don't look into the muzzle flare…"

"…and…?"

"Don't itch my eyarrrgh…." Shepard winced as Wynne extracted his hand from the back of his head, smiling rather widely "…why'd you do that for!"

"Because you dug that grubby little finger into your eye socket and we know what happens then, don't we Shepard?"

"Yeah…you bloody punch me…" he eyed the slightly giggling Asari beside him. The Normandy lift was packed with the Normandy small group of irregulars. Shepard let his brows sink down a little lower to take on a rather dead pan, bored expression. Garrus was down in the hold; his head in the Mako's interior as he removed the running struts which held the turret in place. Everyone else was here especially Liara who was trying not to laugh at Shepard's elbow. Wynne looked ridiculous, he wasn't wearing armour, just grey trousers with many pockets, a large grey jacket and a black shirt. Things within the jacket glinted, the satchel not been the only thing Wynne was carrying….but he stood there with a vaguely enthusiastic expression on his face, his hand wrapped round one strap with not a care in the world.

Light cut through the lift's interior as they stepped out into the chaotic interior of the hold. Soldiers were jogging to stations by the doors, several stationary turrets been dropped into place to cover the doors. Shepard eyed the rather large turrets;

"Are they really necessary…?"

"It's Tortuga…" Wynne dropped onto the deck plates as the rest of the crew disembarked. "…you leave the ship unguarded and Mr Munroe will be flying a ship without an engine core. And I think you can guess how well that'll turn out."

"Stop talking to me…." Shepard rumbled, allowing Williams to pass, several large bundles clutched in her arms "…you just ruin everything. Talking to you is like been shrunk…like really small…" Shepard turned to Wynne in the chaos, the rest of the ground team passing them by "…you talk…I feel very insignificant."

There was a roar of engines as the Mako rolled out into the rust covered metal of the harbour, the white picked out in the heat of the day. The Turret was missing, the compact gun emplacement replaced with one large top hatch. Garrus was slowly making his way out of the interior, dusting his hands off, enjoying the high temperatures and sunshine of Tortuga.

"Aww… I'm hurting your feelings." Wynne said vaguely apologetically, Shepard narrowing his eyes at the pathologist.

"Why have you started grinning like the cat that swallowed the pigeon…?"

"Canary." Wynne ventured as they approached the beached ground vehicle, stepping out into the blocks of light outside the shadow cast by the docking ports. Far below, the sandy soil was covered with many black specks of Tortuga's residents as they made their way to some business or other. Garrus withdrew his head from the interior as they approached nodding to Shepard.

"We all set, Garrus?"

"The troop bay's been extended; don't expect much leg room though." Garrus fiddled slightly with his talons as Shepard squinted up into the blue sky visible through one large hole in the old ship's hull. It was obvious the Turian wanted to say something; Shepard let him stew, the human closing his eyes reflexively as the sky was suddenly blocked out by a rather ramshackle tramp freighter.

"You can drive…" He said eventually, rolling his head back down. "…but I need you out with Williams at the location been forwarded to your HUD."

"Aww. I'm having Williams as my spotter again…" Garrus whined, Shepard waving him away with one gauntleted hand "…but Shepard."

"No buts. Go get your Exhaust clips and find Williams, she has your sniper rifle up and ready to go."

If turians could pout, Garrus would be doing then. He clanked off, his armor's neck piece obscuring his lower jaw. Nearly inaudible, several Turian expletives were floating back to Shepard, Garrus making use of the high collar to obscure his mouth.

Wynne watched him go, raising an eyebrow as Shepard patted the Mako with one hand.

"So What? You were saying something about a Pigeon."

"Canary…" Wynne turned to face Shepard as Liara passed them, disappearing into the hold of the mako, closely followed by Alenko "…the phrase is 'the cat that swallowed the canary'."

"Ah…well I did use to own a very large cat….anyway…doesn't matter…what are you grinning about…?" Shepard nodded to Wrex as the Krogan trooped past and bundled into the Mako's already confined interior. There were several voices of complaint from within.

"Effortless Sarcasm, Commander."

Shepard looked vaguely grimmer "I hate you..." he looked up, his implants focusing on a grey clad soldier emerging from the dark of the hold "…double time Williams. You all set?"

"Aye Aye Skip…" Ashley, her head uncovered, her skin after several weeks out in the field having become rather tanned hiding one or two of the scars which usually graced her features. "…all the gear's squared away, I've got Garrus on the sniper and I've knocked together a monocle for the spotter gig. You sure you don't want me to come with you into Badger's?"

"No. I should be ok with Wrex and Liara. No one will argue with Wrex and Liara knows how to talk to people."

"Good for the eye candy as well." Ashley ventured, Shepard folding his arms as beside him, Wynne glanced out into the sky, toward the city far below.

"That was very forward of you, Williams. I doubt Miss Tsoni would much appreciate you saying that. I would think of her more then just 'eye candy'."

"Well, the men are more likely to listen if an asari talks."

"Williams…" Shepard cut through her speech without a moment's hesitation "…in. Now."

"Sir."

She clambered up into the interior, the heated space beyond full of the glitter of metal and the whine of Hard Suits powering up. There was a flash of cold blue eyes before Ashley's face as she sat down in the seat opposite Liara's. The Asari was staring at her rather grimly, her usual studious expression replaced with a rather hard glare which would make most curdle.

"I know, isn't it wonderful. We're getting along so well." Wynne said quite happily, continuing the conversation, as Shepard signaled to Garrus to hurry up. The Turian did so, a large black plastic bandoleer pulled around his chest, the all too familiar sound of sniper exhaust clips coming from within.

"Anymore of that, and I'll have you strapped to the roof of the Mako before you can say 'Bad Parking'." Shepard said, a rather dangerous edge creeping into his tone, reaching up to grab the handle beside the open Mako hatch.

Wynne's smile slipped slightly, gripping his bag vaguely tighter. Even half way in to the crowded interior of the Mako, Shepard could see the cogs whirring in Wynne's mind, the thought processes going on within the man's cranium must be chaotic at best.

"Ok. Shutting up now."

* * *

They broke from the Harbour in a cloud of dust, the Mako following the main drag toward the large brown grey blob of the township. In the sky above, Junks hovering on old style mass effect cores cast obscure shadows across the sand below. In the Junks' shadow the rusted metal and concrete of the shanty towns which surrounded the main body of township. They were truly in the thick of it now; the road side was covered with scavengers of many races. Humans, Batarians, Turians, Korgan and the occasional Quarian all scrabbled in the dirt, their hands grime encrusted, each searching for some part they could sell for credits on the many markets which made up the trading centres within Tortuga's many townships and colonies. This particular town ship went by the name of Muerta…one of the largest shipping ports on Tortuga.

Shepard let the site history data pad fall down onto his lap, resting his head on the head rest of his chair. The air would have been close and thick within the dark interior, there was little in the way of interior lights and the vehicle, designed to carry three people, was not exactly the most comfortable of rides. However, Wrex had opened the top hatch and Shepard, enjoying the dry air which washed in as the Mako rolled along, sunk a little deeper into his chair.

"So…" Ashley looked up from her rifle which spread across her knee as Kaiden snapped open his Data Pad and called up a violent orange display "…are we all clear how this is going to work."

"I'm with Garrus…" Ashley said, snapping a clip into the side of the rifle, rewarded by a sudden burst of light from the many LEDS which covered it's surface. "…window over looking Badger's shop, on the furthest corner of the Eastern Markets."

There was a click and a whine, a single holographic map of the township rising up from the small projector set into Kaiden's Omni tool.

"Eastern Markets…" Garrus didn't break his concentration with the road ahead, the console twitching beneath his fingers "…simple option, easy view of the shop, streets below as well as the areas above that including the roof tops and sky."

"Just incase there are drones…?" Liara scratched at a loose amour plate, setting the grey piece of metal back into the correct position "…aren't we been a little pessimistic?"

The force with which the Asari spoke was a little unlike her, the usually softly spoken Dr now seemed to be fuming, her gloved hands wrapped round one of her pistols as her forehead knotted and twisted. Beside her, Wynne shifted to one side, looking a little worried.

"Can never be too careful…" He said, tapping a small rhythm on the top of his satchel. "…best to keep all options covered. Sharp Shooter procedure usually requires that all possible areas of attack must be covered and controlled to limit risk of discovery before shot is taken and also allow the sharpshooter and his spotter…if he has one…" Wynne grinned widely at the crew "…to escape through perfectly planned escape routes. What…?"

"Nothing…" Kaiden exchanged a glance with Ashley "…just not exactly buying the Doctor act if I'm honest. I mean, I thought you were supposed to have a Hippocratic Oath or something?"

"Well…" Wynne sighed "…that's more medicine role. I'm a pathologist, I know what kills people. Military training is just something I picked up on my travels. I don't tend to use weapons, more medicine. Hurts more…lasts longer…bullets can be healed by medigel. For example use Omni tool to convert enemy's medi-gel to a mild acid, removes healing capacity, causes discomfort, pain, loss of concentration."

"Right…" Kaiden at last broke the awkward silence which came after, a rather nervous glance been shared amongst the crew "…remind me to never piss you off."

They all jolted forward as they hit pot hole, Garrus apologizing loudly from the driver's seat.

"So…what else can you do?" Ashley slotted her rifle into place, beside her chair. Wynne also caught sight of grey pupils in the black; Shepard was defiantly watching him from his seat. He sighed, settled back into his seat and laced his fingers;

"Pathology, cybernetic development, AI, I specialize in soldier counter measures too as well as psychology, reducing some ones effectiveness by speech, playing with their heads…" there was another group worried glance "…outside of combat, gourmet cooking, pathology, politics, reading, music, Origami."

There was a slight shifting amongst the crew, a rather uncomfortable few seconds past as most fiddled with armor plates or rifles. Wynne looked quite please with himself, turning to glance out at the road ahead. In the heads of the ground team, Soldier Countermeasures stuck quite plainly, most imagining some horrible method of dispatching a small squad…like them. Each then made a mental note not to say anything to annoy Wynne. To piss him off was quite unlikely, he sat there, quite content and carefree. Not looking as if he could hurt a fly...so that you never ever saw him coming...

"Riiiiggghhttt…." Kaiden broke the silence at last, tapping away at his data pad "…lets get back to the job in hand. Liara…"

"Yes…I'm with Shepard. I know." Liara stated flatly, glaring rather hard at Ashley.

At this point, only Garrus had any idea where he was, the street outside obscured by the thick walls of the Mako. Only the smell gave any clue to where they were. The stench of engine oil, Eezo fragments, spiced food and open sewers wafted in through the roof. Behind his head piece, Wrex flared his nostrils, savoring the smells;

The Mako pushed through the bustling streets with little issue, the people moving aside with a minimal amount of prompting. Garrus was watching the people with one eye, the usually hawkers who were trying to peddle their wares unable to reach the hard to get to top hatch, the only open area of the vehicle. It was getting harder to move here, the large metal walls of the buildings on either side were closing in, reducing the possible maneuverability of the machine. They must be near one of the markets…Garrus squinted at the map beside him, tightening his grip on the controls. They rolled to a stop at the entrance to a large square, hundreds of metres of awnings stretching as far as the eye could see while over bearing, blue and white clad soldiers stood guard on high pedestals. There were snipers in several of the watch towers that surrounded the site, Garrus could easily see the glimmer of scopes from the people within, his talon's itching for the feel of his own rifle at this point.

"Looks as if this is as far as we can go." He said, setting the controls down with a groan, looking into the crowds through narrowed eyes "…me and Ashley will go on foot from here. Shepard, the roads round to the Badger Compound is clear, so you won't be restricted using the Mako.

"Right…" Shepard emerged from the dark behind Garrus, slumping into the passenger seat beside the Turian. "…take the nearest window. I want no surprises…"

"Don't worry…" the Turian raised a hand "…you can trust me to make this work, Shepard. Me and Chief Williams will get the job done."

"It's not getting the job done that worries me, Garrus…" Shepard moved backward to allow Garrus to rise from his seat, the Turian ducking out into the burning air outside "…more you ability to get the job done well."

"What…!" Garrus said imploringly, taking the sniper rifle from Ashley as she to emerged from the Mako "…I always get the job done properly and efficiently. I mean….what could possibly go wrong?"

"Don't say that!"

Shepard dropped down into the seat, sealing the Mako door with a flick of his finger and spurred the vehicle forward, leaving the Turian and his human companion in the dirt behind them.

* * *

Above, beyond the blazing blue of the sky, the Mass Relay fired once, a cloud of debris rolling from its depths as from the blue flames, some rusting metal 'thing' pulled itself into existence. Its goal was easy to see as it fired its main thrusters, the engine core leaking a great deal of blue fluid into space around it. Surrounded by chemical leaks, rogue heat vents and nearly on fire, it fired its engines once again, its nose tipping downward to take in the planetoid far below. And…with a gout of blue fire, it began to drop...


	11. Book 1: Garrus

Nothing much to say...just enjoy!

(He He)

* * *

**Hyst**

* * *

Garrus shouldered his rifle, the weapon folding down to easy to carry size.

"C'mon…Time to go…" he said, dusting his claws off and made to turn into the crowds. Ashley didn't follow, merely looking on with a rather grim expression. "…Chief Williams?" Ashley sighed, her memory rushing back to the crowded interior of the Mako a few minutes before;

"_Alright! That does it…!" Ashley swore, grinding her teeth as she did so "…what is wrong with you?" _

"_I don't know. How about I dance around and act promiscuous or something. I'm incapable of thinking perhaps. I mean, I have no other use then to be 'eye candy'!"_

"_Oh…you heard…" Ashley said, sheepishly tugging at one of her sleeves. _

"_Yes. Yes I did…" Liara retorted, the sudden in change in personality causing the others to look up from their work "…how dare you say such a thing. We are not…"  
_

"_Oh come on…!" Ashley levered herself forward as in the darkness, Kaiden was quite plainly pinching the bridge of his nose between finger and thumb "…That's all you Asari do. Dress up so the men can drool over you, in thigh highs and tin foil skirts. If that isn't eye candy, I don't know what is!"_

"_Oh, how can you say that…you've barely seen Asari outside of those strip clubs you keep having to visit."_

"_That's it! That why! My point exactly! They all wear barely anything! And have I seen any humans doing it! No! Turian women…!"_

"_I don't think we'd be very good on a pole." Garrus added from the front seat._

"…_No! That's because it's only Asari who are willing to do it!" _

"_You bigot! That's not true!"_

"_Er…" Kaiden let the data pad fall "…people?" _

"_It is…I mean look at you!"  
_

"_Do I look like a dance for men for a living!"_

"_Well I don't know!" Ashley replied forcefully "…how you glide around in that…thing…that…tight…little scientist uniform with a short skirt and tight trousers!"  
_

"_That is supposed to be practical!" Liara fumed, a slight blue aura gathering round her hands as she sat squarely in her seat. _

"_Er…Guys?" Kaiden ventured, the air becoming extremely close in the few feet between Liara's face and Ashley's own. Liara was positively vibrating, the Asari's face colouring visible. Completely at ease and quite enjoying her team mate's distress, Ashley was grinning rather impishly. _

"_Practical. Well I'm sure you've got most of the crew's attention. I mean, I bet everyone is pulled in by your charms…!" Ashley added, the blue aura taking a more vibrant shade of….well….blue. This, however, was not the only other visible sign. There was a slight flicker of movement. In the darkness of Shepard's chair, a pair of grey eyes erupted from the black, the cold pupils snapping round to focus on the Gunnery Chief Williams. Williams wasn't quite aware of the suddenly awake Commander and if she had been, would have shown a little restraint. But in her usual manner, she waded in quite happily her tone taking a more serious edge; "…The Commander is always coming to see you in that quiet little office of yours. I bet you love tha…"_

"_Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams…!" Shepard's voice cracked in the suddenly thick air "…don't you fegging push it. I would shut the hell up right now. Understand!" _

"_But, Sir!" Ashley made to protest but found a rough hand on hers, Kaiden shaking his head warningly. _

"_Don't." he said softly. _

"_Sir." Ashley said quietly, sitting back. Beside her, the Commander closed his eyes and became one with the shadow once again. They are sat back with a sigh, the silence filled with the rumbling of the wheels and the cries of people on the roadside._

"What the hell is his problem!" Ashley tugged a pair of rather beaten sunglasses from a shoulder pouch on her webbing, the old style aviators slotting down round her features as she made after the Turian.

"Well, you insulted one of the crew, in front of him…" Garrus called up a holographic display, disappearing into a gap between a hot food stand and a scrap dealer. Ashley followed, her eyes focused on the guards that sat in the towers above their heads. In the wide, though crowded arena like space, a clear line of sight from the ground level was troublesome at best. The watchtowers had the best position…

"…Blue Suns controlled Territory. Must be of some importance that this place stays up and running…" Garrus took a right, avoiding one slow moving Elcor trader "…bad for business if thieves operate in this area."

"Yeah…very lenient. I wonder if they practice capital punishment." Ashley muttered sarcastically, gaining a rather hard stare from a passing salarian.

"…anyway…what I was saying…." Garrus half turned his head, pushing through a throng of Quarian workers, making for an alley at the far end of one of the Market's 'streets' "…you can't insult Liara, especially."

"I mean…it's been everything…he questions my competence in everything, all the missions, weapons cleaning, weapon adaption, Weapon Smithwork…everything I do." Ashley let out a deep breath, running her eye over one particular stall laden with new weapon parts.

"Shepard's a perfectionist… In his eyes there is no plan B…" Garrus stepped aside to allow a one wheeled cargo 'lifter' pass them by, "…and anyway…have you ever considered that you may actually be bad at your job."

"What…!" Ashley batted at the back of the Alien's head with one hand "…I am fine at my job. I have never fucked up any of the operations we've taken on so far."

"Fine…fine…fine…I was only pulling your leg, Chief."

"Yeah…pull the other one, its got bells on." Ashely grumbled as Garrus updated the holographic display, his hard suit's VI displaying a single shining red dot on the image. They stood before a large reinforced door, its surface covered with scorch marks and dents. It seemed to be a civilian dwelling, several post boxes dug into the walls on either side. It was locked too, Ashley trying the handle. There was no noise through the door, the silence of the house beyond cancelling out the sound of the market behind them. Garrus activated his rifle as did Ashley, the soldier hunkering down by the door's side.

"Right…" Garrus, brought his boot back "…lets be bad guys."

The door, even though appear reinforced, folded under the Turian's boot, the cloud of rust which rose from its now wrecked form evident of the poor quality of the door. It was then a quick sprint across a wide, concreted area before a short flight of stairs. The apartment building was empty of all life, Garrus dropping into position beside a large wooden door, the graffiti on the walls and the stench of old, forgotten things reminding him what a grave this apartment building was. On his map, the Red Blip was only metres away from where he sat, the omni-tool whirring as the Nano-Machines controlling the device altered the trajectory of the image.

"Through here…" he tapped a rhythm on the tool, several blueprints flickering before his eyes. "…small apartment. I'm not reading any occupier signatures on any of the building's data."

"Looks like a close proximity raid." Ashley rested the rifle against her chest as she pressed a hand to the door, trying to listen through its wooden material. The only noise was the loud sound of splintering wood as Garrus slammed his boot once again into the material.

"Idiot! Have you ever heard of stealth! Like…been quiet!" Ashley yelped as Garrus ran forward.

"Only with a sniper rifle…! And I was polite!"

"If you're polite…you knock you moron!"

"Well…" Garrus broke the last of the door apart as he passed through the door frame "…I could of shot the door off its hinges if you wanted."

In the cloud of splinters and dust, Ashley shook her head and charged forward, Garrus, swearing as he caught his foot on the threadbare carpet, his rifle rising up to pan round the room as the bright lights of the windows blinding compared to the darkened concrete filled hall outside. Garrus blinked, twisting round from the greeny light of a badly cleaned fish tank, slack jawed as the sudden brightness burned through his retinas. Ashley did not share the same fate, having put on Sunglasses before entering the building. Garrus wished he had done, as disorientated, he yelled and raised his rifle ready to fire.

The five strong Turian family who sat round the table watching the two soldiers tumbling into the room were also exhibiting the same symptoms of disorientation, their meal half eaten on the table before them. Garrus took a step back, surprised as the small group looked on. Only a small Turian child, his crest not quite developed seemed nonplussed by the entire situation and instead, waved his arms seeming to become almost excited by it all.

"So…Garrus…" Ashley sidled by behind Garrus "…this is where you start been the Bad Guy then."

"Err….um….err…this is….ah…Spectre Business…?" He quavered. "…just to…um…use one of your windows."

"…….yes……."

Garrus nodded sheepishly while with one foot, pushed the remains of the family's door back into the shadow. Best not tell them about that yet… With a rather flat glare back into the hall, he cracked his shoulders, doffed his forehead to the small group and stepped into the next room, trying to regain his pride while doing so. He also attempted to whistle nonchalantly, trying to restore any shred of coolness he could muster. Sadly, nothing revealed itself and Garrus, grinding his teeth, felt his composure running for the hills.

The adjacent room appeared to be a child's bedroom, posters and brightly colored fragments of cloth hanging from the walls while a large, though faded bed showed images of Alliance Ships in mid flight on the quilt. One particular alliance ship, Garrus stared grimly at the faded image, trying to place the odd ship…

"So…" Ashley interrupted his thoughts adjusting the monocle over her eye as shestared down into the street below "…empty?"

"It must have been a mistake…" Garrus yanked hard on the sniper rifle release catch, Ashley opening the window for him to push the barrel on through "…how was I supposed to know….Pressly gave me Blue Print Signatures which were five years out of date."

"Yeah, and Top Brass wonder why the Alliance Military haven't got the best set example of 'A Well Oiled Machine…" she nodded down into the street, taking a seat beside the Turian as he rested his armor plates on the bed, setting the stock back into the fold of his shoulder "…right. That's the shop down there…" Garrus allowed the scope to rove across a large rounded hanger complex, noting the white coat of the Mako which sat outside "…escape routes behind and to the left of us. I couldn't spot any in the building opposite; there aren't any other buildings of this height nearby…" She signaled to the door directly behind them which led back through to the entrance and to another which appeared to go out onto the roof on its right. Through the blinds, the ships of the space port were black dots, passing through the peerless blue sky on white streams of super heated water vapor which cut white lines through the sky. In the street below, Garrus adjusting a set of blinds hidden in the drapes which gathered on the ceiling, people still thronged, never looking up to spot the large sniper rifle which erupted from the window.

The house they occupied was a squalid mess, the walls peeling, the posters faded and nearly colorless. The floor was nearly bare, the poverty the small family were living in made Garrus sick to his gut. Crime did this…and here…there was no shortage of it.

He shot a quick glance at the Turian child who stood beside the door, his armor plates soft and undeveloped. He was watching them with wide eyes, even here it wasn't everyday that a heavily armored Turian burst through your door, especially one which hadn't come to threaten or extort.

"'Sup Kid..." Ashley tapped away at the monocle; the holographic display zooming through multiple programs till the zoom was adjusted correctly. "…Calibrations set, Garrus."

"I need something rest the barrel on…window sill is too low down…" Garrus gestured for some rag or block to raise the barrel "…anything you can use?"

Someone handed him a soft object…Garrus glanced down at the offending object and found he was grasping a rather lurid cuddly Pyjak . He glanced up, meeting the eyes of the shy looking Turian who stood beside a half rotted desk by the door. And then he realized who'd handed it to him…

"Thanks Kid." Garrus said at length, tucking the cuddly toy beneath the sniper barrel. It worked perfectly, though seeing the large plastic eyes staring back at him was a bit unnerving. In an after thought, Garrus reached across to twist the head to one side so he didn't have to look in the accusing eyes of the stuffed toy before once again, awkwardly nodding his thanks to the child. They both exchanged glances…

"Do you think it really bothered him…?" Garrus said after a short time.

"What?"

"Tali…been burned. When Liara told him, he barely batted an eyelid."

"This is Shepard we're talking about, isn't it? And yes, I'm sure he did 'feel' something…" she sunk down beside the Turian once again "…he's not a complete bastard."

"Look…he's probably very good with dealing with this kind of thing. With all that responsibility, it must be hard to get his priorities sorted out. I mean she's not dead…"

"I think our newest member is going to extract her when we get back."

"What? Tali out of her suit…!" Ashley exclaimed, knocking Garrus's elbow "…sorry…he's going to remove it!"

"Well, he'll have to, the suit's exterior is compromised, and seeing as seems to have installed himself in the ship's clean room, there's no one else to do it. Anyway, from what he was saying over breakfast, he's dealt with Quarians before."

"Knowing him, that won't be pleasant."

"Eh…excuse me…" the voice was rather high pitched, the juvenile now standing at the base of the bed. He looked vaguely nervous, the small Turian looking down at his claws. He'd seized what appeared to be home made badge from the side, where a single Red square cut out of card beside a large white colored number 7. Obviously well used, the card was dog eared and creased but the way he held it was with such a degree of reverence; it meant a great deal more.

"Are you with the Alliance?"

"Shouldn't you be interested in something vaguely related to the Turian Hierarchy…" Garrus commented, resting his chin on one hand. The day and the target outside would have to wait. "…the Alliance is human related military."

The child tugged at the N7 logo, mumbling something. Ashley twigged exactly what was been said, though Garrus turned back to the window, blissfully ignorant of what was been said.

"But he's human, Kid."

"But he's so cool! Flying round in his Space Ship 'The Hastings'…!" Ashley sighed, realizing the Alliance Vessel they were lying on "…saving the galaxy. Surrounded by his brave and resourceful crew!"

"Hear that Garrus…" Ashley slid backwards, rising from her position "…he thinks' we're brave and resourceful….right…gotta check the routes out of here." She jogged away into the dark adjacent room, digging the monocle from behind her ear. There was no wind or stiff breeze to worry about, the air was perfectly still. Ashley stepped out onto a large balcony, clamping her fingers round the rusting metal railing which prevented anybody walking straight out into empty air. Not that they had particularly far to fall. The Balcony was only a metre above the roof of another building, the 'balcony' more of a lip of one of the apartment's roofs.

At this point, the balcony was in shadow, Ashley raising her sun glasses so she could see through the shade and stretched her legs, the trip in the Mako and lying on that uncomfortable bed's surface taking its toll. The city sprawled out before her, the streets caught in a heat haze as the millions of people continued to throng the streets. This would be like this for quite a few hours, not just having an extensive night life, Tortuga also boasted extended day time hours, its orbit far wider then any of Earth's. If they'd had more time…perhaps Shepard would have allowed them leave, they'd been due that for quite some time. Not that they were complaining not officially anyway, this had stopped being a military Operation since they'd left the Citadel…

Ashley could see the stress they were all under, Kaiden's migraines were getting worse, the LT lying down for hours at a time, they were hiding one extremely pissed off, caffeine addicted Asari in Dr Chakwas's back room. Wrex was barely saying anything these days, the Krogan's face creasing in the semblance of nostalgia. Garrus however, was unchanging always willing to get his hands dirty, never truly able to escape from the job.

She checked the roof tops for any suspicious bodies and stepped back into the dark. In the room beyond, the Turian boy now occupied the end of the bed, his hands resting in his lap. His mandibles were clicking rather agitatedly as Garrus recounted some story.

"So what Happened next!"

"Well…the commander said 'The Doctor stay's with us, thanks.' So that really threw the Krogan…and this guy is really big…not as big as Wrex obviously but pretty large. Anyway, he's pretty pissed and Shepard is just there grinning…"

Grinning like an idiot…Ashely smirked at the thought. Several bullet wounds had meant that Shepard's suit had pushed a mild pain killer into his bloodstream. He had been numb from the neck down and feeling extremely light headed…pain and fatigue bringing on a near stage of delirium. Garrus was defiantly avoiding most of what was said, most would not be good for public consumption…

"…so anyway…Shepard was there…"

* * *

Joker accepted the coffee with a wide grin, sinking back into his seat as Pressly smoothed a crease out of his uniform and took the seat beside him.

"So, how's it going back there?" Joker said, wincing as he took a sip, Pressly settling back in his chair with his own brew.

"Ok…we've just relayed the last of the Mission Status to the Commander…looks like a clear run…we're getting confirmation of a new set of co-ordinates as we speak."

"Oh…going that well is it…get the feeling…"

"Yeah…that it's going way too smoothly…" Pressy took a long drag from his coffee, staring flatly at one pyjak sitting beside the view port "…That bloody follicular challenged space-monkey's back again. Ever thought of installing a horn?"

"Tried…asked the Commander…" Joker's voice took on a more deep tone, obviously pertaining to the Commander's own gruff speech. Crewman Phillips who sat at the first station beyond the air lock also winced at the sound, Joker's horrible attempt at the British accent crackling through the speakers. "…We're supposed to be a Stealth ship…installing a horn would get attention…oh what a daft twat you are…"

"He called you a 'Daft Twat'?"

"No…he just left at that bit. Grumpy Bastard…"

There was a crackle on the line, the static buzzing in Joker's ear.

"The comm. is on you know…" Liara's voice echoed through the confined space, warranting several sniggers from the flight staff.

"Oh….crap…" Joker shook his head, taking a drag from the coffee "…he's going to kill me, isn't he."

"Yes...Mr Monroe…yes he is…" Liara echoed back matter of factly

"How are things going down there…?" Pressly tapped into the comm. Joker sinking down into his seat, pinching the bridge of his nose between finger and thumb "…any trouble?"

"Nothing yet. Every-thing's Shiny. Shepard's just dealing with the data transfer. Don't worry, I'm sure Garrus will have us covered…" there was a brief uncomfortable murmur before Liara returned, sounding a little annoyed "…Wynne also asked me to say 'Hello'." Again the flight staff sniggered, Pressly smirking rather widely as there was another brief grumble.

"We're forwarding the data to you know…are you reading this…" There was a brief rattle of keys, Joker smirking as his console flashed once. Pressly nodded studiously before dragging a piece of data into the projection before him "…is the Co-ordinates relayed ba….Oh by the Goddess!" There was a shriek and a meaty thump. The clank of armor rattled across the speakers, Shepard's low guarded tones crackling across as Liara's comm. echoed with the sound of heavy breathing and Wrex's own rumbling voice echoing back.

"Shepard!" Joker pushed his mug to one-side, activating the comm unit "...please read! Goddamn it, Shepard...!"

"Radios just went down..." Pressly groaned rather loudly "...Standard Issue Piece of Crap."

"Pressly!" Phillips activated several holographic displays as with the coffee forgotten; Pressly deactivated his own console and sprinted back into the midst of the Flight Crew. Phillips, the first console through the door activated the images before her with a twitch of her fingers;

"What've you got, Phillips?"

"Just ran a long range scan to see if we were getting pinged by any Batarian Satellites…" she activated Tortuga, a small holograph of the planet flickering into life in the middle of the console. As if it was a piece of paper, Pressly jerked it away, his circuit lined gloves slowly twirling in space, the holograph expanding under his finger tips.

"Show surrounding Satellites…" several iridescent dots flickered into life above the Planet, each moving in sync as they roved the outer atmosphere or hung in space, several hundred miles out "…I don't see anything, Phillips. You sure you didn't just spot a glitch in the system."

"There's' something else. Its not a frigging glitch…" she turned to activate the Haptic Display, the whirl of data beneath her own implanted fingers causing Pressly's head to spin as he watched.

"Really can't understand why you'd want to be implanted." He said, eying the Flight Sergeant's circuit inlaid fingers.

"A lot easier to use…doesn't mean I have to wash my gloves all the time after long hours of usage….here…enlarge image over Township; Muerta."

The planet exploded outwards, been replaced by a single 3-D square. Upon it, laid out in hundreds of Glimmering lines, the Town ship of Muerta continued to run and work, Pressly narrowing his eyes. But he wasn't looking at the Township itself…instead his gaze was fixed the satellites.

"What the hell is that…?"

"Bears no registering marks. I'm not picking up any signatures on board. No Life signs…but its falling…"

"Could it be loose debris?" Pressly selected the falling dot…magnifying it with a click of his fingers.

"No, picking up minimal traces of an engine core in use. What ever it is, it's powered…"

"Could be an attacked ship limping back to port."

"I thought that too…but I'm reading no life support systems and its trajectory is toward the town ship not the port…most VI's would be able to navigate a path even if the crew were dead…damn…"

"What?"

"It must have VI on board…its changing course."

"But we're reading zero power outage on board, only the drive core is activated and that's only powering the drivers…" Pressly shot the holograph down the hall with a wave of his arm, Joker seizing the image between finger and thumb and pulling it before his eyes.

"Looks as though we've got badly aligned flight panels…its messy, but someone's driving it..." Joker caused the image to sizzle; the force feed back pressing against his finger tips. "…what the hell is it?"

"Images confirm that it's what's left of a tramp freighter…" she activated a single glowing icon "…the trajectory is changing again."

"Shit…!" Pressly hared down the gangway, pushing aside several crew members who were exchanging reports. "…tell Shepard!" he activated his console, the display rolling out beneath his fingers. He activated the falling ship, the machine showing possible trajectory. It was coming down…he traced the line with one finger…right in the centre. There was something too precise about all this, the way it was falling and the way it kept changing course.

"Are we picking up any Geth Signatures aboard!"

"No…nothing…no neural Network."

"Damn…" Pressly activated the image, magnifying the falling ship "…what the hell is it doing?"

* * *

"That's so amazing…" The infant looked on wide eyed as Garrus turned back to the street out. "…so…what's he like? I mean…you know him…what's he like as a person…"

"Not exactly the poster boy the Alliance makes him out to be. He's a soldier…"

"Garrus…" Ashley pushed him aside so she could get a clear look out the window "…try to not give all out reports away…" both jolted as Pressly's voice rippled through the speakers.

"Damn it! Garrus…come in!"

"Pressly…!" Ashley activated her own bead, the Turian massaging his ears. "…what've you got for us?"

"…Shepard won't respond. We've got something dropping from Orbit and its coming your way. It'll be on your six in a matter of seconds…" Suddenly it all came to clear as with a scream and roar, the sun was blotted out. Ashley brought her head to the window and in the seconds that followed, swore rather loudly.

"…what in God's name." Pressly breathed through the comm. in the silence that followed. In the sky above, a vast pillar of black smoke was shrieking down from orbit, the source, a Tramp Freighter was showing no signs of slowing as it tore downward. The sound was unbearable, all other noise blotted out by the scream of tortured metal and the inferno which plunged earthward. Garrus swore too, jumping up, leaving his rifle where it was and grabbed the child, hurling the boy across the room. Ashley was yelling in pain, clutching at her face as the window exploded inward in a vast shower of glittering particles as she fell backward, reaching for her rifle as she did so. Garrus was still roaring in surprise and anger as he leapt forward, wrapping his arms round the boy as he sank his head as close to the floor as he could get it.

The blast tore out the windows out through out the building, the debris hurled by the impact raining down through the streets below. Blue fire rose up in a vast mushroom cloud, quickly replaced by a gout of black smoke which engulfed the streets, several districts down. Buildings nearer the site disintegrated, their occupiers ripped to pieces where they stood or being thrown clear. Bits of stall, the last segments of the market the freighter had fallen onto as well as pieces of houses, scrap metal and stone chips, were catapulted across the town, a moisture which were coppery to the taste sprinkling across the most of the districts.

Dust followed, billowing in a vast wall of noise and colour, rattling off the walls outside, the room obscured from view. There was a second crump of explosives, sirens starting echo through the streets as voices, most yelling in panic began to sound through the streets. Shouts and cries of pain began to make themselves known, people filtering into the streets to either stare up into the dust cloud or to run…their panic begetting any chance of a rescue attempt to all those caught in the centre of the cloud.

Coughing, Garrus opened his eyes to a blurred image, dragged himself clear of a fallen piece of metal sheeting; the young boy he'd been shielding crying into Garrus's armor as the Turian soldier made to stand. He winced, a rib or two broke, several of his natural armor plates peeling away under his fingers. He tasted blood, in the dust and glass covered space, the cloying air digging away at his sense of smell. In that horrible, blinding hell everything hurt…Garrus pushed the sheet aside hobbling forward. His ears were ringing, every movement causing his balance to tip precariously.

"Pressly…gorram it Pressly…where the hell are you…!"

"Ga…..ccrrrcck…..us…..hit…..crrrrckcc….losing……ccrrrck…something…ccccrrrckkk...attack….get out….."

The building around them had taken the full force of the blast; he could hear the very structure creaking beneath his feet as he moved. His eye caught a hand sticking out amongst the debris, the familiar form of the Gunnery Chief caught beneath the rubble and dust of the window. Garrus wasted no time in clearing the way, dragging the remains of the bed clear to get at her form. Behind him, the Turian child sank back into the corner, clasping at his head with both hands, whimpering as a second crump of explosives caused the building the shake.

"Ashley…" There was no response as Garrus stooped to the human's side. She didn't respond still face down in the dirt, her rifle discarded, even as Garrus tugged at her arm. "…Chief Williams!"

In the streets outside as the panicked yells turned into fear filled screams, things began to howl.


	12. Book 1: Stylo

Yey! Its chapter time! Shepard's back in the newest addition to the Dark Wings selection of stories. As i have several ME2 oneshots planned, i haven't quite got round to thinking of another story line as vast and wandering as this one, i thought it wise to stick to single entries, much more interesting. Anything with the words 'Dark Wings' in the title will of course include everyone's grey eyed Lieutenant Commander; Andrew Shepard So glad this story is proving to be so successful, the reviews are great, so many people are favouriting this story and I'm part of a C2 for some reason or other, whatever that means.

I actually thought my writing was pretty bad to be honest.

Anyway, yes it is very long, nearly 8,000 words. Well, these pieces are so packed full of descriptions and dialogue and action, it would be a shame to split it up. And...of course, i love cliffhangers, just to really annoy the readers. I promised at this point it was going to get interesting and it has, for all those who have read the last chapter.

(Cue Evil Laugh)

All reviews welcome!

* * *

...If anyone mentions bacon, i'm going to fegging kill them...

(Commander Shepard)

* * *

Shepard dropped into the sand of the street and took a deep breath. They were parked beside the wide open entrance of the hanger, sand piling beside either supporting strut, kept at bay by a large fizzling kinetic barrier. Only enough to keep any unwanted particulate matter our…Shepard allowed his hand to half push through the forcefield, watching the energy flow like liquid about his digits. The others weren't as in wonder of the large barrier, happier instead to be out of the confined interior of the rover, Wrex clanking free of his harness and dropping down into the burning sand with a contended groan as he enjoyed the high temperatures. Liara too, looking extremely tired, yawned widely as beside her, Kaiden armed his pistol

"Stay out here and watch the Mako." Shepard didn't even register Kaiden's rather upset expression as the soldier moaned loudly.

"Aww…but Shepard."

"Don't argue. It's an important job…don't chip the paint." Shepard patted the LT on the shoulder and disappeared into the maw of the hanger, Liara and Wrex following closely behind. Kaiden glowered after them, ignoring Wrex's throaty chuckles and Liara's pity filled stare.

"Bastard." The sun beat down on the white coat of the Mako, the engine slowly plinking as it attempted to cool down. Like a small child, Kaiden scuffed at the dirt at his feet, glared venomously at a pair of passing Krogan and muttered; "Bastard" again rather loudly to the empty air around him.

The smell in Badger's shop was that of rust and engine oil. Shepard, blinking in the sudden darkness after having been out in the bright light of the day time, took a deep lung full, memories of old rusting ships, engineering decks and Deep Spacers slowly rolling back. Ever the Spacer himself, Shepard had always felt drawn to 'Ships', having spent so much time travelling the shipping lanes. He'd never seen Earth, never been on a colony, his father had believed that the family deserved to experience such a thing. So, for Shepard, he had his ships and his travel. This had instilled Shepard with a great feeling of wanderlust…something which made him feel special. It wasn't the medals the Alliance slapped on his chest, or the achievements, or the well known family. It was this, the feeling of a new world beneath his boots.

Wynne followed on whistling, passing the thoughtful commander with a quick glance at Shepard's optics. They seemed fine, the cold grey of Shepard's eyes perfectly replicated in the small lens like optical implants. Even so…Wynne extracted the two buds of paper that had been shoved up his nose up till this point and tossed them away into a dark corner…best to keep an eye out for trouble. Cybernetics were morally ambiguous as it was, eye implants especially seeing the level of damage Shepard had taken, were rather dangerous pieces of tech, especially to the user. He winced as with one finger, he realigned his nose with a rather meaty pop.

Wrex smirked at the human's watering eyes as Wynne steadied himself on a rather oily bench, dropping the bag onto the floor by his feet with a groan.

"Weakling."

"Ses' you. You haven't even got a nose to speak of…more a…snout…"

Wrex flared the offending article with a grin. "On Tuchanka, you wouldn't last long I think. Born to survive, noses like yours would be a weakness and I doubt they would be of help. Living the way you do has made your senses weak and slow."

"Is that so…" Wynne mopped at his eyes with a finger, raising his bag from the floor "…if that's your thoughts. The Commander?"

"He may be like you are but he has a brain. Sharp as a thresher's jaws which makes up for his failings."

"Big Guy such as yourself, I would've of thought you'd be getting fed up of the structure of all this, I get the feeling Shepard is a very military kind of man. Krogan aren't exactly big scale unless they're defending something?" They glanced back toward where Shepard stood, the human craning his head backward to take in the squat flight craft which dwarfed the hanger. It was a battleship grey, a pointed nose running parallel with ground while flight panels, much like the Normandy's held the main body of the ship aloft. Its nose was stubbier then the subtle curves of Shepard's craft, the grey paintwork mottled, pitted and scoured, the paint peeling off in large grey shards.

"Gives something to fight for…you know…" Wrex narrowed his eyes "…merc work is good, but that's fighting for money. Fighting for money isn't a worthy goal, more a means to an end. Here, Shepard gives me a purpose, lets me blow things up with big guns, adventure, wandering, a good krant maybe, gives me something to tell the children when I return to Tuchanka…perhaps I will become something my people will look up, instead of been the next one with a good idea. Anyway…" Wrex waved the human aside "…I'm not going into this now. This kind of stuff makes me look soft." they'd reached the thrusters of the ship, beneath the large rusting fins of the craft and were turning towards a large raised concrete area covered with large rusted metal gantries which rose up above the rows and rows of parts which made up the rest of the shop.

"That's alright…coming from you. Might have to note this down. Would be good to show grandkids…if I have any…"

"Look…that's lovely…"Wrex let one arm drape over Wynne's shoulder, the Krogan grinning as he growled in Wynne's ear "…if anyone sees that, I will make sure you won't ever reach that stage."

"Right…keep composure…big tough Krogan…large Quad. Will do…" Wynne turned off his omni tool with a grimace. "…very poetic though….for a Krogan that is. Big Guns part…very effective."

* * *

"Wow…" Shepard brushed his hand over the peeling grey paintwork of the ship "…Telfour 241 Class Frigate. Poor Baby…you've taken some meteor damage."

"Ah. I see that I have a man with a true eye for ships..." There was a rattle and clank, as up in the towering shelves of parts, a dusty, unshaven human rising up from an old engine. He was wearing a suit, absurdly, a small beaten bowler hat being restored to his balding head. He was short, Shepard's own modest 5 foot 10 seeming to tower over the man as he dropped down to Shepard's level by means of one of the engine panels. "…a true vintage…" he said grinning as he landed "…barely any damage. I assure you, that this ship will out perform anything you've got at the moment. Owned by a Quarian before so the engineering work is top notch, before that…" he tapped at his chin "…5 other owners."

"No…" Shepard waved an arm to halt the merchant. Liara passed behind, her jaw set, the merchant watching her progress. "…I'm not here to buy a ship, though by the looks of things, you've fiddled with the clock and given it a pair of exhaust ports, badly fitted ones I might add."

"Ah…" the merchant wrinkled his nose, attempting to regain his sellers pitch "…so you really know your ships. Spacer then?"

* * *

In admidst the shelves, the cloying stench of rusting metal and engine oil rolled through the Liara's nostrils as she followed the bulk of Wrex. The Krogan was looking for something, his claws tapping a rhythm along the metal casing of the shelves as he walked. He was also humming, though rather out of tune, his red eyes flicking from object to object.

"Eezo Convertor…no…" He grumbled, halting before a large cylindrical piece of work "…Hadron Collider…" They both craned their necks back to take in a vast piece of rusting metal which lent up against the far wall "…whoa."

"Piece of Junk…!" Wynne's voice sounded through the shelves, obviously listening through the radio been at the furthest section of the shelves, his omni-tool activated beneath the comm. module on the Telfour ship. "…don't buy it, you'll have black-holes opening up everywhere."

"That would be good…" Wrex leered rather evilly as he patted the metal coating of the collider. "…add a little more interest to the Battlefield."

"Wrex, No!"

"Fine…" Wrex glared down at his own omni tool, several numbers flickering by beneath his vision "…can't see my ambition…won't be including that then."

"What exactly do you want to do with these old pieces of equipment? And how is this related to any of the missions? Shepard got your armour back…" Liara raised an old landing strut before dropping it with a look of distaste as black foul smell ichor came off on her gloves.

"Oh…don't worry, this'll help." Wrex grimaced, wrenching a large sheet of metal. It was twice the size of the Asari and nearly a foot thick and leaning against a set of shelves. It was easy to forget how strong Wrex was, his muscles causing his suit plates to creak under the strain as he raised the offending piece of metal from the floor and stepped several metres to the left. He then let it fall with a loud bang which set the shelves rattling.

The rattling didn't stop however, something to the left was slowly moving amongst the loose metal parts. Liara, leaving Wrex to play with several capacitors, took several steps back, stooping low as something or someone moved amongst the shelves. A bolt dropped, Liara sinking down onto her knees by a large shield module, a few feet from where the Krogan was working. There was a clank, the ringing of a loose metal falling before a strange grinding sound which echoed through the rusting shelves.

"What…is….that…?" She raised a hand to move the shield generator, dislodging several items in the process. In the following clatter of material, a small shadow flitted through the shelves, making for the large open space of the hanger, its progress a quick 'tap tap tap' across the metal. Maybe it was the slight childish side, an old deeply rooted curiosity which made Liara want to know what this thing looked like. It wasn't the seething anger she'd felt in the Mako, the fear of the mission to come or the fascination with new world they were landing on.

There was a shriek, a scream of metal before onto the shelf emerged a large silver bug. It was raised up on large spindly legs, a thin body covered with silver carapace. Its head was a thick shard of metal with no apparent eyes. It had a mouth, a circular maw which was surrounded by fangs, a tail, as thin as a piece of hair whipping out behind it. It was picking rust from the shelf surface and sticking it into its mouth, grinding through the hard brown material.

"Rachet Beetle…" Wrex eyed the small insect as it twirled on the surface, completely unperturbed by the Asari watching it "…native to Tortuga. Eats the rust off ships which come in, hence you'll find them on other worlds. Most people believe that they came with that rusting freighter…" The bug chittered slightly, working its way through another thick piece of rust before with a flick of its tail; it disappeared back into the shadow. Liara glumly sat back on an old turbine, taking a deep breath as disappointment rolled round inside her. Her brow itched, her head ached. However much a welcome distraction that bug was, it never made up for the fact that she really needed a coffee. She wanted a coffee at such a degree that it was worth adding another 'really' to that…

* * *

"I'm looking for a ship." Shepard folded his arms as they strolled through the shadow, the ship dealer, Badger…digging a filthy dog end out from behind one ear and lighting the offending article.

"Well, You've come to the right place. Not going to find a better ship in the surrounding area, Spacer."

"Spacer?"

"Look, I have little time to remember your names or your goals. In fact, I get the feeling you're the kind of person who doesn't particularly want your name to banded around. Isn't that right Lieutenant Commander Andrew Shepard…" Shepard raised any eyebrow as the other man spoke "…yeah. Blue Suns had you pinged as soon as you entered the quadrent. Got the memo. But I'm not the kind of guy to sell you out. People who want secrecy are willing to pay more…"

"Very true…" Wynne slowly circled the antennae which stuck out from the base of the ship "…people have less control of money…resources if they are been subtly controlled by an outside source. A threat…though seeing the 'Protection Money' you're having to pay, gaining an upper hand with the Blue Suns would be helpful."

"Hey…hey…hey..." Badger draped an arm over Shepard's shoulder comradely "…you're a spacer, you know ships and you know the best. Also, I've seen the vids, you wiped out worse then the Blue Suns before. You'd do quite a bit of damage, seeing as you've got most of your crew here. I'm not going to sell you out…I have my wellbeing to consider. Anyway…" he gave Wynne a warning look, the Doctor cancelling his omnitool with a quick glance at the Commander "…what exactly are you looking for?"

"A ship registered to this workshop made a stop at a fuelling station, owned by a Quarian. Ship Number 654-Seren. We're tracking it."

"Ok…ok…I won't ask why. Disgresion is my middle name…" he made to laugh but stopped seeing Shepard's deadpan expression. "…step into my office; I'm sure we can sort something out."

* * *

The sand of the street was slowly curling in lazy plumes round Kaiden as he sat in the shade of one of the Rover's large wheels. Sweat pooled in the crevices of his armour as high above, the pitiless all seeing orb of the sun glared down on Muerta. In the sweltering streets, the metal clad buildings, the busy markets and the tall shapes of apartment blocks, people scuttled from shadow to shadow, trying their best to keep cool in such high temperatures. Not that it helped, the shade itself was heating up rather rapidly.

The suits were designed to come with built in air conditioning units…again bearing the legend 'Standard Issue'…so we all know where that goes. They only worked if a helmet was attached, the interior been able to cycle the interior air. Which meant usually the wearer would be breathing in his own gaseous output. So Kaiden had had to resort to fanning himself with a piece of scrap metal he'd pulled from a nearby dumpster, which only succeeded in speeding up the warm air.

"God Damn it Shepard…" he panted, allowing the sheet of metal to drop "…why do you do this to me."

A shadow fell over the LT's form as with a sudden flutter of grey cloth, a handful of loose change was tossed into the gap between the man's feet. Kaiden cracked open a bleary eye to glare up into the shadow before glancing down at the money.

"Do I look like a beggar…" he grimaced at the selection of coins before allowing his gaze to wander upward into the shadow's on visage. There was nothing there, no person stood in the street who could have given him the shrapnel. Well…that….apart from a small group of vorcha clustered round a rather dilapidated shack shoehorned into a gap between two houses. By the looks of things they neither had the temperament or the money to be assisting a beggar. They'd probably be instead seeing him as an easy meal, which is probably the reason they hadn't seen any beggars since exiting the shanty towns on the border of the city.

The only evidence he hadn't dreamed it was the set of footprints which ran past his position, slowly disappearing in the wind that had sprung up around the many ramshackle buildings. Kaiden slotted his finger into his ear, the heat forgotten as a cold feeling of realisation ran through his gut.

"Shepard…"

* * *

"Right…" Shepard looked up from the dirt covered desk of the ship dealer, a rather concerned expression cutting across his features before been replaced by his usual expression of impassiveness "…I'll keep an eye out…" he glanced up as Badger adjusted his bowler hat, eyeing the Krogan and the Asari that loitered in the dirt outside the office door "…you two…" Shepard nodded toward the ship in the hanger "…watch my six."

"Shepard." Wrex nodded before clanking off into the shadow of the hanger. Liara followed suit, with one long look back over her shoulder.

"She's quite a looker…" Badger straightened his tie with a rather unpleasant smile as the edge of Liara's mouth tugged upward in a half smile, her expression souring a little as she realized Badger was watching. "…wouldn't mind her looking at my paperwork."

"Ship Co-ordinates. Keep your eye off my crew or I'll have other less paper work orientated soldier come and rearrange your quad for you. Capeise!" Shepard grinned rather menacingly, the ship dealer running a hand over his balding head with a sigh.

"Give me a minute."

"Good." Shepard slowly turned to inspect the interior of the office. It was covered in old parts, the remains of an apple peeler sat on his table next to a half eaten apple which was slowly going brown. There was nothing on the walls, only a few peeling posters of naked Asari and an old picture where a man in plate armour hugged a much younger looking Badger to his chest with a friendly grin.

Shepard grinned, recognising the armour make, the white sword with wings on his shoulder pad and turned back to the ship dealer. His desk, apart from the peeler was nearly devoid of life except for the large console which sat directly in the middle of the table, a desk lamp and a single projected holo which hovered over a small metal disc.

"The Rivendell…" Badger said, following Shepard's gaze "…bootiful ship…"

"Yeah…" Shepard lent closer, the white projection slowly revolving before his eyes. On it, a slender beautifully designed ship slowly revolved. It had a long slender body which ended in a segmented nose, the white picking out details of hundreds of carvings along its length. The main body of the ship was a segmented, beautifully crafted expanse of silver metal, the streamlined body having no sharp edges, several fins allowing the ship to remain balanced in Grav-flight. The rear of the ship resembled a Quarian Life Ship, the large revolving ring rising above the length of the ship like a vast spine. It was rotating as Shepard watched, the engine ports picked out in strands of silver filigree and carvings resembling some kind of large sea creature

"…a salarian designed EDN - Ship…perfect piece of engineering though just more a fancy thing to look at…the Quarians' helped build it and the Salarians don't deny it. Seen as a bit of a good point between the races, seeing the Quarians past history. Waste of creds if you ask me, whatever the significance…" Badger allowed the data to grow on his console's screen as Shepard looked on, beginning to look rather pensive as he glared at the numbers which filtered before his vision.

"Look Mate…" the swarm and slick exterior dropped slightly, giving Shepard a direct look at the thug Badger was. "…You know what this universe is like, people need money. Now…I'm not saying that I'm the shadow broker or nuthin' but this information, it isn't free, I'm not going to give it out of the goodness of my own heart."

Shepard had him over the desk before Badger could yell out, his elbow clamped into the gap between Badger's skull and his shoulder blades, the man shrieking in agony as the Commander worked his elbow into his spinal column.

"Don't you fegging try me 'Mate' or I'll have you on the business end of a shotgun before you can say 'Foxtrot', comprende!"

"Alright! Alright! Lemmee up…" Shepard released the rather ruffled ship dealer. "…this ship is registered to a Quarian….male…" he brought up several reams of text on his beaten old console with a twirl of his fingers, shoddy implanting causing the ends of his fingers to spark "…name of Deror'Adin vas Moreh…" he massaged his neck with one grubby hand as Shepard's omni tool flashed, the Commander's brows creasing.

"And the Co-ordinates."

"Nu-uh…" Badger folded his arms stubbornly "…not this time. Not unless you let me have your pet Asari for a time."

Shepard folded his arms too, mirroring the man opposite. For a while they stood in silence, Badger realising after a time, how grey Shepard's eyes actually were, how his nose twitched, how his brow arched down and the way his mouth was folding upward at the corners into a rather evil grin.

Liara's thoughts on the universe and coffee were rather rudely interrupted by an almighty bang which emanated from the small office/lean too at the far end of the hanger. What followed was the most hideous amount of swearwords ever uttered, as Shepard's voice roared over the top. The squad, Wynne having finished with the scans of the Frigate covered the short distance in a few seconds, bunching up to the door of the office.

"Put him down Shepard." Wrex rumbled incredulously. Shepard let the man drop into a rather patched up office chair and returned properly to his side of the desk. Judging by the rather white faced man on the opposite side, what had obviously been exchanged was more then a string of swearwords, Wynne rolling his eyes.

"Co-ordinates…" Shepard put a little more force on each word then necessary. "…now."

"Fine. Just this once…" Badger wheezed, his hands running over the console monitor "…here you go."

"Thank you..." Shepard let his omni-tool chime before checking the numbers "…you see, perfectly pleasant."

"Yeah…" Badger levered himself up from the chair as the service bell echoed through the shop interior "…you have what you want. Now fuck off."

Shepard sighed and shook his head, allowing the man to limp past. Badger gave the squad a dirty glare before painfully making his way across the floor.

"Language. Honestly…" Shepard said grimly. "…Joker…you getting this?"

"Aye Aye, Sir…" Joker's voice crackled back over the comm. link as both Liara and Wynne activated their omni tools, syncing their devices with Shepard's own. "…Carbon Copies developed, inputting them into nav systems."

"That's his ship by the way…" Wynne said after a quick twitch of his fingers within the holographic glove "…that Telfor Class. Dumped here a few days ago. Wasn't damaged beyond repair. Looks as though the pilot left it behind, downsizing by what registry details tell me…" he paused, a single holographic tablet rising up from the back of his hand "…as you can see, owner abandonment logged, no new entry. I get the feeling, there's a trail he's wishing would go cold."

"So…Badger wasn't telling the whole truth…" Shepard ground his teeth "…Liara, go wheedle it out of him, he's more likely to listen to you. Wynne, run that data by me…" there was a faint fizzle of static as Liara turned her back and jogged after the ship dealer as his limped onward. "…that would be 'yes, Shepard'…" He yelled after her sarcastically before groaning as he spotted the small hourglass was imprinted onto the holograph before his eyes "…what's got into her recently."

"Caffeine I believe, she's been drinking quite a large amount. And she's been forgetting to eat. Chakwas has been attempting to try and cure her habit. She believes that Liara is attempting to over-perform and finds her own energy reserves far to low to meet her self set standards…so she's looking for a chemical fix to boost performance…" Wynne shrugged as the device whirred "…also, she's a woman. Females at this 'age'...science...rational thought? Usually separate entities understanding temperament."

Shepard raised an eyebrow as the data finished transmitting, lifting the holographic panel projected by the omni-tool up to his eyelevel.

"You speak as though from experience, Doc."

"Women. Tried to understand them…failed…"

"Oh…" Wrex and Shepard exchanged glances.

"Anyhoo…lets get back to the mission in hand…" Wynne said breezily "…the records of ship abandonment, studies of logs record it been at that fuelling station. Looks as though our particular Quarian gentleman was running from something."

"Us?" Shepard said as they strolled rather slowly toward the entrance of the hanger.

"No. He had no idea we were following him. We were at Mal's after he'd left, he'd have no idea we were there." Wrex shouldered his rifle, enjoying the draft which flowed through the entrance, his crest flexing as they walked.

"Something else?"

"Its always the same isn't it…" Shepard sighed loudly as the comm.. link crackled to life in his ear "…always something else. Why isn't anything a coincidence any more…"

"…oh what a daft twat you are…" filtered through Shepard's hearing and gauging the looks on the other two's faces they'd heard it to. Liara's voice echoed back with a crackle "…the comm. is on you know…" before a grumbled response sounded through the network.

"Joker's dead…" Wrex and Shepard chorused in perfect unison.

Liara, only metres behind Badger, dug her finger out of her ear with a sigh as Wynne's request filtered through. "Wynne also asked me to say hello…" She tapped out several buttons on her omni-tool before signalling back to Shepard who was following quite some distance behind. Shepard nodded, activated his holographic glove and moved it before his face.

"We're forwarding the data to you now…"...Liara's eyes registered a second shadow emerging through the hanger door..."…are you reading this?" Badger removing his bowler hat and bowing to the figure, grinning smarmily... "…are the coordinates relayed ba…" ...a grey cloak caught in the breeze, the street outside and the sun shine which beat down on the burning sand of the floor...

Badger turned grinning sleepily, his bowler hat dropping from limp fingers. Liara felt her heart stop as with a surprise ridden expression he let his chin fall into his chest so he could see the blade which stuck a couple of feet from his sternum. Blood was starting to drip quite steadily from the man's mouth as Liara reached for her pistol, gasping as adrenaline began to flow through her system. Badger gurgled as the blade was tugged free, his expression turning to one of horror as his legs gave way and he turned to look at his attacker.

Dressed in thick grey armour plates, its face covered in a globe like helmet, the figure was merely a shadow in the bright light, no distinguishing marks covered its armour gave no clue to what lurked behind the mask. It moved with such grace, the sword rising up behind it with such precision and speed that Liara failed to register it until it was held, perfectly balanced, poised and ready…

Badger's head came off in one quick flash of silver as Liara at last called out. The figure wiped one slender finger along the length of the blade to clear it of blood, the grinding of metal ringing through the space as the armour plates met the blades surface. Liara froze as the 'thing' fixed her with that expansive globe like faceplate, faint breathing causing the rebreather built into the bottom of the mask to hiss and click.

Liara was then fully aware of the sudden sickening pain which tore through her shoulder; the figure pulling back from the asari's twitching body, her blade dripping with blue blood as it came free. Liara felt her vision misting as she fell to her knees, the blade slowly coming down to rest on the side of her neck. Behind the impassive grey globe, she could feel eyes watching her, the segmented breast plate giving away the slightest rhythm of a breath as it rose and fell. In the draft which flowed from the entrance, several ammo pouches moved, tight cloth bands holding them in place. The remains of an old grey cloak slowly caught the wind...

"Arggghhh…" Liara managed, tasting blood as the blade was withdrawn, brought back to the same position it'd been used on Badger "…who are you?"

The figure didn't register the words, merely gripping the handle of the blade hard, the metal creaking under the stress. And Liara began to feel the smallest amount of coldness spreading through her form, fear beginning to well up inside as she watched the daylight catch the blade's surface, scattering light particles across the walls in hundreds of glowing flecks...

The pistol round caught the figure directly in the centre of the breast plate. Its concentration broken and looking up into the furious grey eyes of the Commander, it seemed for second to be questioning exactly why it was here, the head piece twitching to one side as if questioning him, Shepard meeting the unseen gaze with the muzzle of his pistol.

"Get…off…of…my…crew...mate...you...arsehole..."

There was no response of such, just a strange chittering noise which emitted from behind the mask, a rasping crackling of deeply drawn breath. And then it was gone, a grey shape haring away into the street with ease, the people outside jumping to be out the way as the creature, whatever it was, leapt a one wheeled loader and disappeared into the crowd on the other-side.

Liara slumped to one side, wide eyes registering the blood which coated her hands, the sword having punched through her shields and straight through the other side. Shepard caught her as she fell, the commander engulfing her in his arms as Wynne ran forward, medi-gel prepped and ready to go, his face set. And then it all seemed a long way away, Shepard's voice getting quieter and quieter, their faces disappearing into the white blur. The pain did stop, the medigel cool against the wound as Wynne's voice sounded gently across her hearing…

"I've got no signs of internal bleeding…looks as though its more shock and pain…nothing ruptured…looks as though the blade was poisoned though…" there was a second noise, the scuff of sand before Wrex's rough tones echoed back.

"Badger's dead. Bastard got him good."

"Do a reccy, find out what the hell that was…" Shepard's gruff voice sounded quite close to her ear as Liara came to, finding that she was staring up into the ceiling. The three men were arrayed around her, Wynne sorting through his med pack as Wrex sprinted out into the street outside. Shepard was still close by, sat back on haunches, a rifle sat across his knees. "…looked like Ursa Combat armour, Commando Class. Sword too…" if he'd been unconcerned by the whole event, he'd of raised an eyebrow at the next comment "…why a sword?"

"Symbolic…no use in modern warfare…" Wynne dug a rather large vial from his bag and turned back to the Asari, priming the input nozzle with one hand as he lent forward. "…unless they're able to use it properly. That looked like an assassin of some kind…" There was a rattle of a compressor, a white fluid erupting into the gap in Liara's shoulder. Liara winced and tasted blood, realising she'd bit through her own lip in the process. "…blocked the wound, you should be ok for now, just let Chakwas have a look at it once you get back in." He said, kindness ringing in his voice as he spoke, smoothing the rough ruptured skin round the edge of the wound.

"Anything, Wrex?" Shepard looked up from the Doctor's work as the Krogan clanked back into the space. Wrex shook his head.

"Moved too quickly, used some cloaking device once it'd reached the main thoroughfare." They all glanced at the ship owner's dead body, the bowler hat now discarded in a shadowy corner.

"Poor Guy."

"Died like the rest…" Shepard levered himself up "…forgotten and left behind. Wrex, watch the street, go get Kaiden. Wynne, you deal with the Doctor."

"Alright, Shepard…" Wynne stooped to the Asari's side "…I'm going to try and move you…try not to strain too much and tell me when it begins to hurt. You ok?"

"Thank you…" Liara took the proffered hand and inch by painful inch, pulled herself up, her face paling as the wound and the liquid bandage rubbed together. "…ah…I'm fine…"

Shepard watched the two of them with half closed eyes, slotting his rifle onto his back, as he activated the comm. bead in his ear.

"Pressly, need evac points. Things have gone Fubar…do you copy…" nothing but a hissing buzz of static filled Shepard's ear as he extracted his finger. All he heard then was the scream of engines, torn metal; the rumble of something sent shivers running down his spine. It was an unearthly, unholy racket, the roaring blast of sound causing the street to be spotted with clouds of dust, the Mako rocking back and forth on its wheels as the wind caught it.

Kaiden staggered back from the rear of the Rover, activating his pistol…whatever use that was, his neck craning backward as high above, the pillar of black smoke, a vast, clouded accusing finger of fire and metal charging down toward them. The sun…both suns were blotted out as the pillar smoke reached down with one final roar of noise, and gently touched the cityscape several districts away.

Suddenly all Kaiden was aware of was the silence, the dull horrible crushing silence which tore through the streets as not a breath of air stirred the sand. Frozen in time, local people stopped in the street, mouths open, hands clutching at children or belongings. Kaiden could see the sweat suspended on their faces, the dust caught in the scales of a Krogan Merc, the blue and white armour of a Blue Suns Patrol, how their optics glimmered in the sunlight.

The blast sent Kaiden tumbling backwards. He slammed into one of the Mako's wheels, yelling, deafened as the noise, the sheer shrieking hell which followed the impact tearing through all of his senses. He could taste blood and dust on his tongue, grit digging into his eyes, pain flashing through most of his joints as the wheel caught him at an unnatural angle. All he could hear was the ringing in his ears…and the screaming…

"Shit…!" Shepard dragged Wynne clear of the bench they'd all leapt behind, dusting Liara off as they dragged her to her feet. "…Wrex! What the Hell is going on out there!" Dust billowed in through the door, the small group ducking for cover once again as Shepard dug a small rebreather from his pocket, wishing he'd brought goggles. There were people yelling and crying beyond the door, the street now full of dust which covered every inch with a white film of powder. Shepard staggered forward, his ears ringing as he pulled Liara clear of the bench. There was a shout from the door, Shepard nearly dropping the Asari as he reached for his pistol. Through the dust, a shadow at first, Wrex stormed forward. He was covered with the white powder, his rebreather clicking as behind the goggles; the Korgan's eyes were flicking over all the angles. He was becoming more like a wall of muscle, the Krogan beginning to ready himself for what ever fight was coming.

Panic, sheer panic existed in the streets outside, Shepard could hear it all, the pain filled shouts, the yells of the lost hunting for those who'd disappeared in the storm and the cries of soldiers, trying to gain some advantage through the cloud. Within the hanger, Shepard had hoped for a small oasis of calm, losing your head in these kinds of situations was more likely to get you killed. However, seeing the faces around them, how Wynne was mouthing instructions loudly to Liara through the ringing in his ears, Liara's pale, blood encrusted face and the Krogan that loomed from the mist, calm was the last thing on Shepard's mind.

More…survival.

"We all ok?" he managed after a time as the ringing subsided.

"All here, Shepard…" Wrex rumbled.

"Please tell me what the hell just happened, Wrex." Shepard bit down on the plastic mouth piece of the rebreather, activating the purge toggle on the front of the sloping mouth piece. The squad around him did the same, Liara wheezing through hers, her shoulder tugging at the wound's puckered edges. She paled visibly…and suddenly felt a light weight on her shoulder. Shepard's arm rested gently on her left, as through concerned eyes, he nodded slowly and carefully, putting Liara in mind of a parent silently checking that his child was ok. She nodded back, even in such a dire situation, smiling slightly as the Commander turned back to the small group.

"Ship…big freighter…just hit the centre of the town. Muerta's gone, Shepard…just the outskirts remain…"

"Damn…" Wynne murmured quietly as the Krogan dusted himself off "…any idea how many dead."

"Records were always patchy when it came to population size…" Shepard flexed his fingers, hanging one hand over the pistol stowed in his belt. "…so lets say…Lots."

Wynne and Wrex exchanged glances.

"We need to get the hell out of here…" Shepard activated his comm. and found the signal had failed, several red screens flashing before his eyes "…comms down so best bet is the RV with Garrus, then getting our arses out the fire. I want the logs of all ships leaving at this moment…if we're quick, we may be able to get back to the Normandy before our 'guest'…" they all quickly glanced down on Badger's dead body, his head leaning against a bench strut several metres away "…sets off. Pre Flight diagnostics take a while and I bet, if its an old ship, speed won't be great…." He paused, a rather disconcerting noise beginning to filter into his hearing. It wasn't just people in the street outside, it was people in the street outside…screaming. But not in anger…not in pain…but in fear…

"Damn it…concentrate…" Shepard dragged the squadmates attention back to the holographic map of the town "…we can still catch them, with that outside, everything else will be grounded, but if you're desperate enough…"

"You'll leave anyway…" Wrex leered "…I like your thinking, Shepard."

"Yep…" Shepard said grimly "…cos' I've got a plan."

"Well that's never good…" Wynne wrapped the strap of his bag even tighter round his shoulders "…I've read your past history."

Shepard fixed the Dr with one hard stare.

"Shut up."

"Shepard…" Liara paled visibly as she spoke, wavering as her pupils dilated rapidly. "…they're screaming."

"Yeah…" Shepard brushed her aside, standing in the dust filled air, his black armour plates becoming liberally sprinkled with the white matter. "…I can hear them."

"No…not them…" Liara grasped at Dr Wynne's arm "…I can them screaming…in my head…"

"You what…?" Shepard managed to barely complete what he was about to say before he realised what she meant. It wasn't a screaming noise more a buzzing in his head. He could feel a fizzling in the air, the whisper of things unknown which flowed round the edge of his mind. It wasn't screaming…more a signal.

"What is that…?" Wynne slowly turned, his head rising up to stare at the ceiling "…indoctrination…no…telepathy?"

"Not in the month of Sundays…" Shepard grimaced, gripping his rifle in tight fingers "…what ever it is…"

"It feels as though its coming this way…" Liara, grasped at Wynne's arm even harder. "…oh by the goddess, please stop it!"

"Ok…just about to break my arm there…" Wynne pulled his arm from the grip of the Asari "…I though Asari were neurologically sensitive individuals but I didn't now it went this far."

"What ever it is, its bloody annoying…." Shepard grasped at his head as something began howl in the street outside. Warbling shrieks were beginning to replace the sounds of panic, people beginning to run through the streets. Now, a new noise was beginning to echo, the rattle of gunfire, the crump of explosives, the wind now still in the streets outside. Unlike the heat of the day, the world beyond had suddenly got a lot colder, the stillness becoming thick and heavy as a chill began to pluck at Shepard's greaves.

"Don't like this, Shepard…" Wrex rumbled.

"Not the only one…" Shepard managed, raising the sights of his rifle as something shifted through the dust "…really not the only one."

"Don't like this, Shepard…" Wrex repeated, gripping his shotgun tight in thick gauntlets, his optics glowing even more fiercely as the inbuilt generator began to pour power into his suit to allow great movement.

"Yeah…" Shepard gritted his teeth "…heard you the first time."

Sand scuffed at the entrance of the hanger, metal rattling. A shadow scuttled by, low to the ground, a flash of something just beyond Shepard's field of vision as something else chittered in the cloud outside. They all fell into a loose circle, Liara limping backward into the centre of the circle as Wrex moved to protect her, the wound obviously restricting any combat ability the Asari could muster.

"Badger gives us information…gets killed by a random stranger…" Shepard quietly let his mind whir, his rifle never wavering from its target or targets; he wasn't sure "…Stranger leaves and then a large ship smashes into the Township Muerta, where we are…anyone smelling a tiny bit of a link here?"

The light in Badger's office snapped of with a click, the emergency lights failing with a dull thud as the power gave out. In the sudden dimness, Wynne ground his teeth…the clatter of loose metal amongst the shelves stirring Shepard from his concentration, attempting to get a bead on the things that moved outside.

"Shepard…" Wynne managed, pulling his pack tighter round his shoulders, his pistol muzzle turning to face the shelves "…we're not alone…" there was a crash of scrap metal, Liara shrieking as some thing rose from the dark, leaping from the roof high above to the floor below.

"…we're really not alone!"

Shepard didn't quite register what happened next. All he knew, in the yelling, roaring following few seconds, was that something had burst through the cloud and was sprinting toward them. Two shots took the thing off its feet, its knee caps shattering before one final blow destroyed the right side of its face in a shower of black material. It was clean, precise…military. Shepard was roaring over the noise, Wynne dragging him backwards as what appeared to be a Krogan, skidded across the floor in a cloud of dust. For a while they just stood there, Wrex popping a heat sink into the stock of his shotgun, glaring at his lesser; face down on the floor at their feet.

There were no words…no witty one liners or deep meaningful comments. Just shock…Shepard never letting his pistol drop. That thing…that thing didn't seem to resemble anything he'd seen before, even amongst the Korgan it looked…wrong.

It was wearing what appeared to be rusty and stained power armour, large heavy plates strapped to its chest with thick metal bands. It had skin which showed through gaps in the armour plating, scales shot through with hundred of green tinged veins. And…

"Shepard…" Liara breathed into his ear, her voice fighting to stay calm "…there's things moving beneath its skin."

Shepard then felt the sudden urge to run, the keening in his head was becoming unbearable, an un-scratchable itch that burrowed into his skull. The things in the streets were now a crowd of shadows beyond the doors, gunfire still rippling through the streets outside. It was an animal smell, feral and lost; he could see the Krogan was beginning to move. The occasional twitch of the finger, a jerk which set the entire body quivering.

"Its not mind control or brainwashing…" Wynne stammered, the usually unflappable human, seeing his brief time on the Normandy was beginning to show the stain, sweat beading on his brow "…its more…animal…it wants us to run…to hide…"

"What is it, exactly…?" Shepard managed, the nulling sensation of fear…an unusual sensation of fear…beginning to grip his gut. Sure enough, there were things moving beneath the Krogan's scales, the skin distending as things moved. The thing, whatever it was gargled, the Krogan body cracking as its back twisted horrifically. It was struggling to rise, twin broken legs failing to hold its weight as it rose up.

"By the Goddess…" Liara's voice sounded very small, hands beginning to express her biotic potential as blue fire began to play round her finger tips. "…it's still alive."

"No…" Wynne murmured, the Krogan staggering clumsily round. "…no…not alive…" It was impossible to see what was holding it up, but several new lumps and bumps along its legs suggested some physical change had occurred.

"…killitkillitkillitkillit…" Wynne keened, backing away, dragging Liara with him. Military protocol be damned, Shepard felt as though he had truly no idea what to do next; Perhaps…run…pick up sticks…leg it…? He had the sudden feeling that guns really weren't going to work this time.

New legs…it grew new legs…Shepard shuddered as creaking and chittering, the Krogan opened its eyes.

They'd been closed ever since it'd started rising from the floor and now, Shepard felt sick, staring into the empty eye-sockets of the thing. Things slivered in the twin black holes, things just out of sight which waited in the dark. The body, whatever it was, extended its arms to either side, a foul chittering noise sounding from behind the discoloured crest. Those green veins were scattered across every spare bit of skin, bones distorting beneath its scaled surface. And then, with a horrific gargling noise, speaking in a voice which was half a whisper, half a scream, the Krogan opened its mouth, rotting teeth falling free as it did, the foul smell of rot and rotting plant matter spewing forth.

_**...I see you...**_

_**...a hundred tendrils view you as meat**__**, human…**_

"Oh balls…" Shepard managed as the Krogan lumbered forward. It wasn't attacking however; merely staggering as if unsteady…as if drunk "…that's never good." It spoke again, one word sounding like a death knell through Shepard's mind...

**...**_**We are Hyst….and we...**_

_**...are many…**_


	13. Book 1: Primrose Hill

A/N: Enjoy.

* * *

In dreams…things stirred;

It had been the image of a door…the rattle of a ship's engines, the clatter of pipes and the gurgle of Life support units…before the door was scrubbed away giving way to a bright light before it all came in flashes of white light and blinding confusion;

A well cleaned operating table.

A tank where beautiful and delicate strands of metal hung in blue tinged water.

An Assistant, her face covered by an Environment Suit taking her by her hand and leading her to the tank.

The way that within the blue water, multiple layers of circuitry, flowed, delicate metal cases nearly resembling an organic form; the ribs, bones of the leg, the smooth curve of the arms.

And what resembled a pair of gauntlets with three digits.

The memories whirled.

She could remember the fear as the assistant pulled her close and whispered, pointing toward the piece of mechanical wonder which floated within the tank.

"That's yours."

* * *

Garrus broke through the broken metal door into the shrouded market place beyond and felt his bottom jaw drop. The blue sky was gone, only the white dust of the impact which flowed through the streets like a vast storm. The market, which had been once bustling, was a still as the grave; only the rattle of gunfire and the shouts and screams of the occupants belied any evidence that there were still people here.

"What in hell…" Ashley managed, grimacing as the medi-gel covered bandage dug into her side, her rifle hanging loosely from one hand as she held the armour plate in place. Kinetic Barriers aside, her face was covered with long, shallow scratches from where the window had blown out, the force of the blast was enough to fry the shields. Bloody, battered and bruised, the gunnery chief had been dragged from the rubble, her sunglasses scattered in pieces across the masonry dust and threadbare carpet of the floor.

"We need rebreathers…now…!" Garrus thumbed his own device, the helmet deploying rapidly from his wide collar as Ashley clamped a large plastic mask over the lower portion of her face. There was a rattle and hiss as the purge toggle was applied, giving the Turian a breath of sterile but mercifully dust free air. But it wasn't a question of breathing…more a sense of scale. An entire city beyond that…Garrus armed his assault rifle, Ashley extracting her own from her back and made to drop down into the sand. Garrus, eyes hidden behind his visor turned back to the Turian family who were clustered in the door, the small boy watching stoically from beneath his parents' talons. Fear, uncertainty registered in their eyes as they stood there, unsure what to do next.

"You have a cellar? Panic room…?" Garrus guessed there was such a thing below the building; they were in the Terminus after all. There was a small nod from the boy, the parents still failing to register the Turian soldier that stood before and instead looked on, blank. "…right…get down there…leave when all this is over…" he turned to sprint away, Ashley yelling for him from beside a still standing market stall, her rifle glinting in what little light cut through the air.

"But…!" The boy was stumbling forward on his thin legs, the armour plates soft under each step, his youth easy to see. "…how will we know!"

He was right, that was thing the Turian had overlooked…Garrus turned to look at the child, his mandibles clicking beneath his visor. There was no way of telling what was out there and when this would end…they could be in there for days…weeks even. And seeing the clothing most of the family were draped in, it didn't seem as though they'd have stocked the panic room for anything of that length of time.

There were several high pitched shrieks from the depth of the mist, Ashley yelling over the sudden noise as something darted through the dust storm, black shapes against the white cloud of debris. Garrus felt his organs curdle…

"I'll come back…!" He called back as he too dashed out into the storm "…I'll come back for you!" They were gone, lost in the dust as the roar of some vast but unseen battle began to cleave into the air round the apartment building. The child, still standing on the steps as his parents pulled him back into the shelter of the building, looked on with wide eyes as the blue armoured soldier disappeared from view, ducking low as if on the hunt.

"No you won't…" he murmured as he turned back into the shade of the building as around them, things began to scuttle closer "…no you won't."

* * *

All Shepard saw was a white blinding light.

All the Krogan saw…and felt was the large black tyre of the Mako as it was ground into the dirt. Liara was up, running for the mako as Kaiden opened the hatch, Wynne yelling as beneath the tire, there was a gargling moan as something which appeared to be a large green tentacle flopped down onto the sand. The suspension of the Mako was bucking up and down as the 'thing'…what ever it was began to pull itself from the rut it'd been dug into.

"What in hell, Commander…?" was all the LT could manage, his grime covered face flashing through the interior of rover as he dragged himself backward through the confined space to help the wounded Asari inside.

"God knows…" there was a horrible retching gurgle as the remains of the Krogan struggled to drag itself free. Shepard prepped his pistol, avoiding the flopping green tentacle as he did. He shot it…twice, his face showing his disgust behind the re-breather as green fluid splashed clear.

"Time to go, Shepard." Wrex rumbled, pulling himself into the top hatch.

**Hyyyyyyssssssttttt…**

It was still whispering and muttering, the tyre pressing it down firmly into the dirt. But it wasn't just in the garage; it was in the street outside, the rumbling rushing noise like a sharp icy breeze. Shepard shivered as the noise, whatever it was began to filter through into his hearing…it wasn't just the street outside either…

"It's city wide…" Wynne said, his ears pricking up as panicking, Liara began to rock back and forth in her seat, her fingers in her ears. "…sounds…like…Hive mind…multiple consciousness."

"Like Geth…" Shepard skidded to a halt by the open door, shoving the Doctor rather roughly into the open rover.

"No…argh…my bag…!" Wynne dragged himself clear, his bag following him at some speed. "…Geth loose intelligence if they're in small groups, large groups posing a problem…they...it…" he paused, his face dropping into darkness as Shepard pulled the door shut "…It is able to rationalise even if its split from the rest, like a multi consciousness. I mean…" he waved his hands nervously, paling as the noise began to break through the walls. "…the more creatures it controls, the harder it would be to keep each creature above animal intelligence…." He sagged visibly.

"You ok…?" Shepard snapped his pistol into its holster. The bulky armour of his suit was ill placed in the interior of the vehicle and Wynne had to sink back into his seat to avoid one of the Commander's shoulder pads.

"Yes…I'm…fine…" he smiled nervously "…not exactly used to this kind of thing. You know…invading alien race…full of unknowns…" he grinned rather widely as Shepard dropped into the front passenger side seat beside the LT "…should've have joined earlier when Chakwas first invited me…fun." He finished, eying the rather grim looking Shepard in the front seat.

"This isn't fun…"

"I know…great loss of life…it's very distressing…but it beats the usual grind…" Shepard gave him a rather hard look, inching his way round so he could look directly at the Doctor "…anyway…haven't we got an all seeing alien race to avoid."

"You are really starting to scare me…" Shepard spun round, leaving Wynne who was looking rather concernedly patting Liara on the shoulder, trying to get some sign of recognition as she resolutely kept her fingers in her ears and began to whimper.

"What took you so long…?" Shepard jolted backward as the rover reversed, releasing the crushed body of the 'Thing' from beneath its forward tyre. It was still moving, last pieces of armour falling from its broken and torn frame. Its insides could be seen easily now, hundreds of tiny green vines were wrapping themselves round large, thicker rounded tentacles. It was…repairing itself? Shepard felt vaguely ill as from its crushed skull, six slitted eyes stared back.

"Got Knocked out…that ship took a massive chunk from the city and everything went Fubar after that…" Kaiden spun the control in his hands, the rover kicking up sand as they backed rapidly from the hanger and turned the corner "…Blue Suns were trying to regain control, several vorcha squads decided to make a push for the abandoned apartment buildings on the far side of the Market complex…didn't make it…" Shepard lent forward in his seat, trying to see through the billowing dust and debris which rattled across the window. The true horror of the attack was plain to see. There were a small group of asari across the street, dragging a ruined body behind them, their fear filled eyes falling on the Mako as Kaiden turned on the main lights. One was badly wounded, nursing a large gash in her side, blue blood splattering across the sand at her feet. They weren't stopping and the young asari maiden they were dragging clear was plainly dead.

There were vorcha dragging a dead body round in the street, snarling over the possible food it provided. And there were things…sprinting across the rooftops, jumping through the windows of apartments. Humanoid, alien shapes were twisted into horrible shadows of movement through the dust. Over his shoulder, he heard a slight intake of breath as Wynne looked on, wide eyed.

"I think they're….Hyst…"

"Not the time Doctor…monsters don't need names…!" Shepard yelled, waving his arms forward as the things began to drop to street level "…Kaiden…get us out of here _now_!"

"No you don't understand…." They powered forward, ripping away into the mist as buildings whipped by on either side. Kaiden gripped the controls hard as the fate which had befallen the people left in the streets behind, echoed loudly over the interior speakers. "…they were rumours…they shouldn't exist…they are a biological impossibility!...sure, the council deny their existence…no one wants to believe in a nightmare…but they're real…"

"Really…really not helping!" There were shrieks now, things sprinting after them through the streets. Shepard caught the flash of green tinged eyes amongst the dust, blood stained nails, bruised and dead flesh which flickered through the corners of Shepard's vision…and his mind. That buzzing hadn't stopped; it continued to burrow into Shepard's skull, fuelling his own sense of wrongness which flowed through the streets. He cracked his knuckles, clenching his rifle two hands before muttering;

"All the strange, strange creatures…"

* * *

Garrus was yelling loudly as he impacted against the sand, skidding backward across the surface of the market place. An Asari, eyes clouded with green capillaries charged forward, her arms rising up as her mouth distended, remains of rotting teeth and broken bone falling clear as she swept Ashley aside in a cloud of dust.

There was a rattle of mass rounds and the Asari was gone, her skin ruptured, the bloody remains of her being spreading across the sand around her. Across the market place, A Blue Suns trooper was visible sprinting, a small squad of men following, their rifles steaming as overheating set in. They were all skidding into cover too, Ashley swearing as she dragged herself up right, Garrus too rising from the sand with a groan.

"What in hell is going on…!" She managed, seizing her wound with a grimace as blood spotted the inside of her re-breather "…shits falling from the sky… and now these things?"

"I think they're reavers…" Garrus was slowly backing away from the Blue Suns position, his magnifier whirring as completely oblivious, the squad were slowly been surrounded by dark shadows who stayed within the near impenetrable curtain of debris. "…we've got run…now!"

"The Commander's got to be close…" Ashley muttered as Garrus dragged her onward, the whooping calls of the things beginning to echo rather loudly through the market place. There were people, most running, some being dragged shrieking back into the dust by unseen hands. The way screams of panic and pure terror were sounding, the Hyst or as Garrus called them 'Reavers' were definitely all around them now. The crash of glass, the rattle of gunfire was beginning to quieten as in that little space, things seemed to calm midst the storm…

There was a resounding gargle as the Hyst they'd just torn through began to rise from the floor, green tendrils filling the gaps in its flesh as the bullet holes dribbled a green ichor onto the floor at its feet.

"Shoot it in the head!" was all that Ashley could think of as she opened fire. There was a cloud of black ichor, the head jolting back as the mass round took a hole clean through its skull. Nothing happened; the creature remained up right as it turned back, the recoil having nearly broken its neck. Head lolling, it glared at them with the horrible green eyes, opened its mouth….and screamed.

"Shoot it in the head…!" Garrus panted as they sprinted away across the market. "…what gave you that idea!"

"I saw it in an old vid…!" Ashley leapt a fallen market stand, as behind, the Asari was running, much like a puppet on matchstick legs, delicate and ungainly at all the same time. "…shoot it in the head…it dies!"

There was a roar of engines and a flash of blinding white light as the Mako burst from the mist. Wrex was a massive lump of shadow, the Asari shrieking as the shotgun tore a hole in its body, staggering backward as the dead matter and organic material scattered across the floor behind it.

"Garrus…!" Shepard slammed into the ground beside them, his foot steps heavy and fatigued, toes dragging across the sandy surface, his re-breather slotted over his mouth. "…Get your arse over here now!" There were more shrieking howls now, the voices of the Reavers were burning through Garrus' hearing as guttural shrieks began to replace the screams of the dying and chittering attempts of speech put the Turian in mind of large insects. But the Mako offered a way out and all good intentions aside…now was the time to escape. He made to run forward and found his feet dragging, a large green tendril wrapped solidly round his chest plates.

"It won't die!" Wrex shouted over the cacophony of noise, the remains of the asari were been dragged over the soil by the Hyst as it pulled itself on by the tendril which had Garrus so tightly snared.

"Oh Gorram it!" Garrus pulled forward forward, assault rifle forgotten as he reached for the viscous looking combat knife which hung from his belt. Shepard was charging forward, his bulky grey armour kicking up dust as through the hatch of the Mako, Kaiden opened fire in a blaze of blue light.

"Hold still…" Shepard's own silvery blade flashed in the half-light of the market as he wrenched it from his boot, Garrus spinning round to get a clear shot at the alien as it dragged itself toward him, its mouth distending beyond what it should, bones cracking as its destroyed legs began to reform. Wrex planted his foot on the back on the creature, a point blank blast from his shotgun tearing its head from its shoulders. It still moved, even with a section of its head missing, regenerating rapidly as the large Krogan staggered backward, cursing as a several tiny green tendrils attempted to bury themselves into his foot.

"Get it off me, Shepard…!" Garrus pulled away desperately as the half dead Hyst continued to pull itself forward, gargling with what could be mistaken for glee. Wrex whirled round as more shadows detached themselves from the dust, the screaming whoops of the nightmares burrowing deep into Wrex's sense of the fight. This was all wrong…not a good fight. He caught the first in mid air, a human snarling as green fluid bubbled from its mouth, claws digging into the mask of the large lizard. He broke its neck, tossing it away with a sneer as another attached itself to his boot. A Varren, or what was left of it, was clinging desperately to his leg, tendrils weaving up to attempt to penetrate his armour plates. And more followed…

"SHEPARD!" The Krogan was a roaring yelling mass of bodies as Shepard wrenched Garrus free of the tentacle's grasp with a twist of his knife and a spray of green fluid, a pistol shot tearing through the remains of the mouth of the Asari. He turned just in time to see Wrex being dragged downward by a large mottled human which had latched onto his hump. The Krogan was still kicking up a fight even with so many clinging to him, one of his assailants staggering away with several holes torn from its abdomen. A red clad fist followed, shattering another's neck as roaring, Wrex burst from the ranks, finding several of the things falling away limply, shredded by close range rifle fire.

Williams, still bleeding from several wounds, the medi-gel pack on her chest held in place by one elbow stood atop one of the destroyed stands, her hair askew, a smoking mass rifle resting against her hip. And she was snarling, furious, images of Eden Prime flashing before her eyes as the things, the Hyst…the Reavers turned from their quarry, shrieking as they watch the human hungrily.

"Erm…." Shepard pulled Garrus clear as the Asari began to convulse, the thing still very much alive "… We can't win! Retreat! Fegging Run! Now you morons!" He didn't get much further as a large muscled arm slammed into both the soldiers, the pair plunging into the dirt as something roared, a vast black mass against the dust. What appeared to be an elcor was rumbling forward, the usually slow moving creature turned into to something else as through its once impassive face, those horrific green tinged eyes looked on with such a look of hatred that Shepard felt his stomach curdle.

"Gee…would've been nice if we had the Mako cannon don't cha think, Commander!" Garrus pawed at the dirt, dragging himself upright, his voice echoing rather sarcastically as they struggled to escape.

Shepard didn't respond, his boots drumming off the sandy surface as they ran. The rest of the squad, Wrex bringing up the rear were sprinting forward, their footsteps followed rather closely by a Hyst who seemed to be unsatisfied by the spoils of war the town yielded, leaving the massacre of Muerta's inhabitants to chase the single human squad.

The Mako was a white blur as it pulled away, the wheels spinning in the sand as Shepard pulled the door closed, Wrex motioning the human back into his seat. They all sat there, for a second, silent, apart from Liara's whimpers…

Wrex gripped his shotgun in tight fingers, his own optics glowing the darkness. Shepard glanced round at the tired and pale squad, his rebreather dropping clear. Kaiden stared straight ahead, ignoring the dead or dying populace on either side of the road, as the Hyst tore through their homes. Blue Suns were trying to resist, but their numbers were been ripped to pieces, wounded soldiers been dragged through the streets by their comrades…or by the bloody maws of the Hyst. Garrus allowed his forehead to drop into his open hands, eyes tightening as he struggled to keep the shivers at bay. Ashley sat beside him, her rifle across her knee, staring glumly into empty air as the Mako rocked from side to side as it hit potholes, the wheels rumbling across the hardened sand the only noise. She was gasping slightly, short of breath as blood rose in her throat.

"What's happened…?" Shepard managed after an even longer time "…what's happened to her…?"

"The blade…" Wynne half said, mumbling most of the words, bloodied fingers dug into the open wound on Liara's shoulder. He'd peeled the armour of her shoulder back, a thin bladed scalpel tight between two fingers. The wound was oozing a horrible dark green liquid, the smell fouling the air and hinting at rotting flesh. Liara's face had paled greatly since Shepard had last seen it, the Archaeologist's eyes beginning to loose focus. However fast Wynne worked, however, her head resting on his lap, Shepard could still easily see the black veins spreading across Liara's shoulder, their horrific process followed by a vile green tinge on the surface of the skin"…the blade was toxic. White Blood Count is dropping rather rapidly…the toxin is converting most of the blood cells to what appears to be chlorophyll, hence the green appearance of the liquid the wound's emitting."

"Well, that can't be good." Garrus's mandibles clicked as they took a sharp turn.

"Yeah…well it ain't good for her, that's for sure…" Wynne didn't look up as they all leant into the corner, the Mako's engines whining as they crested a large gulley, the concrete of the bridge crunching beneath their tyres.

The sudden crackle of static and the garbled retort of the radio in Shepard's ear nearly caused him to leap out of his seat. Under the cloud of dust, the radios had barely been any use, the fragments of Element Zero which must have been suspended into the cloud blocking out any signals coming in or out of the Township. Now, it seemed, they were nearing the outskirts. Shepard felt a slight thrill as the street beyond seemed to brightening. It felt like…survival.

"Commander! C'mon Commander, don't leave me hanging up here!"

"Glad to hear you, Joker. I can't tell you how nice it is to hear your voice again!" Shepard snapped his finger into his ear, the com bead fizzling as ahead, through the dust, the white nose of the Normandy could be easily seen ripping through the sky above, its engine panels well aligned as the pilot urged the craft forward.

"Same here, Commander! What the hell's going on down there!"

"Hell on earth…" Shepard glanced to his left as Kaiden gently tapped him on the shoulder and signalled out the window. The Hyst were following them in long loping strides, legs lengthening to take on more athletic forms. And they were keeping up…

"Wrex….!" Shepard turned in his seat, waving at the large Krogan "…we've got followers, think you can deal with them?"

"Can't say I can kill 'em…" Wrex activated his shotgun and reached for the top hatch "…but I'll try."

"Trying is all we can do…" Ashley winced at that comment, reaching for her side, waving a rather erstwhile looking Wynne away with one hand as he reach to help, leaving Liara to her pain wracked state, unable to do anything with his current equipment. "…leave it, leave it, leave it…just a scratch, nothing I can't deal with."

"Broken Rib, looks like punctured lung…" Wynne grabbed the soldier as she fell forward "…you're tough…but still…I thought you soldier types would of gained some sense over the years."

"You know how hot-headed I get…" she grimaced, wiping away a thin trail of blood which dribbled from the corner of her mouth.

"Knee Jerk reaction dictates…running away from bombs…fireballs…" Wynne drew her hands away, removing the armour plate to get at the Under-Skin beneath "…they always say that cool guys don't look back at explosions."

"Well, you've read my reports. Bit of a break from the norm."

"Yep…" Wynne reached into his bag and pulled a med kit up onto his knee "…Williams wasn't it? I knew your father!"

Ashley paled visibly.

* * *

The dust filled air outside the top hatch was filled with dust as Wrex, his frame barely fitting through the top hatch, turned on his legs, his shotgun whirring under his grip. Alliance designs for Alien frames were negligible, as was the space to move. No matter however, the Carnarge shot tore apart the first to jump. A second took its place, mouth distending as what appeared to be spines began to flow along its body. The green tendrils were still there, its once salarian origins now forgotten in the wake of its horrific organic transformation. It skidded to a halt on the roof, struggling to gain purchase before skidding off to one-side. It was lost amongst the surrounding buildings in a crash of falling scrap metal and a shriek of pain. Rules per most combat situations usually dictated that foes in large groups would be demoralized if by the loss of their comrades…as was usual with Shepard's style of combat, this never applied. Wrex had never read 'The Art of War' even if the Commander was an avid fan. And seeing the combat they usually got dragged into…Shepard certainly had not been taking notes when he'd read the rather large volume.

But that was the least of Wrex's worries as with a roar, several more leapt from the roadside, or from the roof tops above, their claws fanning out as the Hive Mind controlling them adapted and changed. They knew where to grab on, where to attach themselves for best purchase. What the hive mind wasn't counting on was the large irate Krogan who stuck from the top hatch. The first fell back yelping as a second Carnage shot tore straight through it, sending green tinged fragments across the road. Wrex caught the next's neck in a balled fist and tossed it aside as the Mako swerved, the thing lost in amongst its fellows it struggled to right itself.

"Shepard…" Wrex roared over the noise, the hundred or so Hyst following were beginning to gain speed "…Faster…Faster would be better!"

The Normandy shrieked down over the dust cloud, the clouds clearing in the wind which suddenly tore through the streets. Higgins dragged the last turret clear as he readied the ramp, his hands wrapped around by one of the reinforcing cables beside the door before snapping open the radio channel.

"We're ready! Jist sa' when!" The ship was now beginning to drop rapidly, the wind howling through the open door as Joker urged the ship on, his hat discarded as the altimeters recorded a massive drop in altitude as they swept in.

"They're on the main carriageway…" Pressly secured himself to his seat, gritting his teeth as alarms began to flash across the consoles "…we're reading proximity alarms across the board…" he patted Joker on the shoulder, the pilot barely noticing "…try not to chip the paint."

Kaiden glanced up through the clouds; the white nose of the Normandy was dropping rapidly toward them.

"There they are…!" Kaiden gunned the engines "…hang in there, Wrex!"

"Easier said then done…" the bounty hunter grumbled, shattering what appeared to be a Turian's head piece with one gauntlet, a look of satisfaction scribed across his features. It didn't last; the Turian could be easily seen dragging itself upright. And behind that…the Elcor was still charging after them, its green eyes widening as the things within began to increase in size.

"It's going Varren-Shit Crazy! Shepard get us out of here…!" Wrex dropped back into the dark space of the Mako, grinning widely as Shepard dragged the hatch shut "…so what're we going to do!"

"Well…" was all Shepard could manage as with a massive lurch, the Mako blasted forward. Kaiden's exclamation was enough to display what he'd just spotted through the front window; the yawning mouth of the Normandy's hold, the LT swerving to avoid a fallen building which half blocked the road. Ahead, Joker was guiding the Normandy even lower, the small ship capable of fitting in the tight knit streets.

Joker swore as they bounced upward with rattle, the underside impacting on the ground below. In the hold below, Higgins swore, gripping an overhanging strut with grimy hands as his jump harness dug into his chest.

"Lower! Gie th' basterd 'hin lower!"

Joker cursed loudly, dug himself back into his seat, Pressly doing the same and slammed his palms into the top panel of the console.

The door scooped the rover from the street surface as the ship pitched down, bouncing off the surface of the street with an ear-splitting crash. The rover swerved into one of the hold columns as the unusual angle sent it sliding; Higgins skidding backward as kicking up sparks and loosing one of the wheels, the Mako skidded across the Hold before sliding to a halt in a cloud of smoke and sparks.

Joker yanked hard on the console, dragging the nose upward as with a rising whine becoming a scream of engines, the Normandy was tearing away into the sky.

The Hold was filled with the smell of smoke…the shrieks of the Hyst been left behind by the silence which followed, the plink of rapidly cooling metal and crackle of several fires spreading across the floor. Nothing stirred for a moment, the doors beginning to rise as the ship pitched upward and powered away into the sky above the debris.

Shepard popped the hatch, cursing as the hold doors began to roll shut, the hold descending into darkness, the howling winds banished to the fast moving world outside. The crew were rushing to meet them, Shepard taking a deep breath of the sterile air of the hold, the oil and element zero tang rolling in from the engine bay feeling vaguely homely to Shepard…and the smoking, sparking rover at his back...was a rather unwelcome addition. He allowed himself to be led away, the others being pulled clear as the doors clanged shut, the pressure establishing itself with a hiss as around him, the crew were crowding into the hold, ground teams dragging medi kits behind them as Quarantine officers swept from their stations, compression modules strapped to their chests as they hastily strapped on re-breathing apparatus. He could feel the deck plates rumbling beneath his feet as he was led forward, several crew members shouting in his suddenly deaf ears…for orders…for leadership.

"Joker…" He managed, steadying himself on a column. Behind, Wynne was instructing several soldiers to carry Liara gently as Wrex, grinning rather ruthlessly pulled his blackened shotgun from the interior of the wrecked rover, steadying Ashley as she too scrambled clear. "…Joker! Follow the last ship to leave that port. Anything which left! We need to go now!"

"Okiedokie, Commander. We've got one Zeta Class Frigate which just took a break for it just after the cloud went up…Phillips tells me it hasn't reached the Relay yet."

"What are you waiting for! Go…!" Shepard activated the door, waving aside the med staff who'd rushed to his aid. "…even if it's a false lead…we don't know till we've tried!"

"Yes Sir!" The reassuring whine of the engines began to filter into the hold as Shepard, keeping his foot on the lift door allowed Liara to be brought into the lift, his face lost in shadow as the door slid closed behind them.

"She's struggling…" Wynne looked up from his personal scanner, tapping away at several holographic keys with a rather worried expression "…adaption to metabolic systems is moving far quicker then I predicted…" they all glanced down at the pale looking asari, Liara had stopped whimpering some time ago, quick panicked gasps replaced by long drawn out breaths. The black veins were still there, now spreading up the curve of her neck with agonising slowness.

Shepard took her hand…allowing his breathing to slow as the maiden gurgled quietly…

"She'll be fine, Shepard…" Wynne rested his hand on the Commander's shoulder "…don't you worry. Just get the bastards who did this."

"Not quite sure if I trust you on that…" Shepard patted the Doctor once on the shoulder, his armoured gauntlets pinching into the soft skin of the other's shoulder blade "…but if you forsake my trust…such as Doctor Tsoni dying for example or turning…" they both exchanged glances "…into one of them, I will be up for reassessing Chakwas's recommendations. And let me tell you that will not involve paperwork; I hate bumf. Comprende?"

"Ok…certain death if the Doctor dies. Got it…" Wynne grinned nervously as the door whirred open "…well, I did say I liked challenges."

"Knew you'd understand!" Shepard was gone, leaving the Doctor with the rather unappetising sight of the burning city of Muerta displayed on the wall monitor at the base of the stairs.

"Right…best succeed then…!" Wynne gestured to the small group of nervous looking soldiers by his side. "…time to get busy…I believe."

* * *

Garrus steadied Ashley as he broke from the wreckage, the soldier clinging to a pillar as the medi-gel bandage was pulled off by one of Chakwas' med staff. The blood on the underskin was clear to see as the medic pulled a scalpel from the depths of a large red med kit and dug it into the soft fibrous material of the suit.

"You going to be alight then?" He gained a ruthless smirk from the soldier, Ashley groaning as the underskin was slowly cut away to expose a large square of bloody, bruised flesh below. She gasped, short of breath as the damaged lung caused a blood filled glob of spittle to rise in her throat.

"Ahhhh….you know me…tough as old…arghh…" Garrus suddenly became acutely aware of the rumbling of the engines, the rattle of the deckplate and clank of scrap metal which rested by his feet. Even as Ashley gurgled rather painfully away, blanching as the med staff called others over, his attention skittering away with any sense of worry toward the rest of the squad.

"We're…leaving…?" Garrus breathed before seizing Kaiden in one tight claw "…we can't leave! We can't just leave them behind!"

"Not my call…" Kaiden raised his arms imploringly. Garrus suddenly had flashing visions of the Turian child, the family clustered in their panic room beneath the apartment building. They were waiting for…him.

"Oh Gorram it…!" Garrus pushed Kaiden to one side "…Shepard!"

* * *

By the time Shepard had reached Joker's chair, the last wisps of water vapour caught on the Normandy's nose cone were slowly licking at the windows, the glimmering star filled black of space welcoming Shepard back with open arms. Even if it had been a day…it still felt like returning home after a lengthy absence, the rumble of the engines beneath his feet and the vast empty nothingness of the road ahead spoke of familiarity.

"How's it looking, Joker."

Joker pulled his cap back into place, fingers running over the multitude of charts and astrographic projections; engine read outs springing up beneath his fingers as he worked.

"Looks good, Commander, hitting the relay in five minutes….that ship of yours just hit the Relay…" he brought up a holographic display showing the star-charts of the linking star system. Shepard realised Pressly was also seated to his left, star charts flowing beneath his fingers as he worked. "…should not of drifted too far…we can still catch it yet."

"Lets hope you're as good as you say you are…" Shepard gripped the side of Joker's chair, having to squint as the sunlight of Tortuga's two stars burned through the portals, the thick glass slowly darkening as the sunlight played across its surface. "…or else we're going to be left behind!"

"A true genius knows when to boast, Commander…" Joker replied smarmily "…and modesty's for wimps…"

"Shepard! Commander Shepard…!" the drumming of feet broke Shepard's concentration as down the Gangway, Garrus was charging toward them, ungainly in his large suit of armour. "…What in all the name of the hierarchy you doing!"

"You're just in time for the jump, Garrus…!" Shepard grinned widely as the ship tore into the twinkling black, the relay filling the view ahead in grey and neon blue shades. If he'd been good at reading Turian expression, Shepard would of easily seen the look of pure rage written across the Turian's features, Garrus's mandibles flaring out to either side as his nose retracted, eyes hardening and becoming mere slits.

"What! You…You…you…!"

"We're nearly on them…just one relay to go…" Shepard turned his head to stare directly at the Turian. Garrus couldn't believe what he was hearing…the planet, the Hyst…how Muerta burned…the boy and his family…it all remained behind them…Shepard was leaving them behind…

"This isn't fair, Shepard…" Garrus snarled "…we can't leave them behind."

"We can't do anything…" Shepard retorted, barely flinching as Garrus clanked to a halt behind him "…Muerta burns."

"This isn't right!"

"I never asked for your opinion Vakarian…!" Shepard snapped, gripping the chair with tight fingers "…nothing is ever right! Not this job! Not this fegging universe! I've seen it all…" He half turned his head. Garrus stared into one of the Commander's grey irises, eyeing the stubble of a man that hadn't slept in days "…don't you dare even try to lecture me on whats 'right'."

"But all those people! You can't just leave them behind! All those people you've saved before, all those lives you've preserved…" Garrus swore in Turian, his mandibles rattling as anger tore through his being "…Muerta could have been saved…"

"Muerta is lost…!" Shepard whirled around, Garrus's head coming level with his with a jerk as Shepard wrenched him downward with one hand wrapped around the brim of the soldier's armour suit. "…we…cannot…do…anything…" This close, it was easy to smell the blood on Shepard's breath. It was clear the Commander was suffering from more then just anger. "…you want to go back…fine…then there's the air lock…this ship is not…turning…around!"

"This isn't like you, Shepard…" Garrus managed, trying to match Shepard's accusing glare "…what happened down there…what made you like this? You'd of gone back…you'd of _tried!_"

"Nothings changed…" Shepard ground his teeth "…I save lives everyday…because they're a cause worth fighting for…Muerta is a lost cause and all I can say is…that we must hunt for the people who perpetrated this. Then we can save more…"

"Your ideas on the Greater Good make me sick…!"

"People do not need me, Garrus. I am not some Hero to give people hope. I have a job, I do it. Muerta is an example of how I am not a white knight. This universe is a bloody place…people are going to die and there is nothing we can do about it…Garrus…" his face softened slight, though the accusing grey eyes stared ever onward into Garrus' face "…I'm so…so…sorry…the universe is painted in shades of grey and this…" he waved to the black outside, the stars still twinkling "…but this is how things work."

"No…" Shepard released the Turian and turned back to his work station. Garrus rose up to his full height, mandibles flaring as he struggled to work his way through what they'd just spoken about. The C-Sec officers, the Geth, finding Shepard in the citadel, the horrible worm of disappointment burrowing at his soul and feeling of failure as his investigation was ignored. The young boy who waited down in his cellar…waiting for his soldier to return and save him.

"…no…" he said softly, reaching for his pistol.

There was a whirr and a click, Garrus found himself staring down the twin barrels of Shepard's own heavy pistol. Pressly swore and hit the deck as Joker cried out, covering the consoles with his body as he slid down to a more hard to hit angle. Shepard turned round, eyeing Garrus's own pistol, which was pointed unwaveringly at his head.

"I can't let you do this…Commander…" Garrus bared his teeth as Shepard stared him with those accusing grey eyes "…if its in shades of grey then there must always be a better side to it all…"

"What…and shooting me will help…?" Shepard snarled, a vague red mist rising in his eyes "…will that make you feel better…or does it push you off that pedestal you so happily occupy!"

"I'm not doing this for me…!" Garrus retorted, his talons tightening on the trigger, "…just…one…family…Commander. Not everyone has to die in Muerta…please…just one…!"

"Saving a small group doesn't make me want to waste resources on a Turian who's gone sentimentally insane! Those things can't die…people of believe the 'Who needs stats, we've got guns' are planks. It would be suicide to go back…" Shepard's response ground over Garrus' hearing, the human barely blinking.

"Shepard…this isn't right…please…you're not a monster…just one family…just to remind the galaxy…the Hyst will be sticking to populated areas...i trust this crew enough to know they'd get the job done."

"Tell the Galaxy What!…That it's not so bad! What if I thought that the rest of this poxy little excuse for a Council and their followers should wake up and smell reality through events like this…that nightmares like this happen everyday…everywhere!"

"I know you aren't like that…I've travelled with you long enough to know. One year Shepard! One Year I've been on this crew and I know…as well as most that you want to see some…I don't know what you humans say…_good_ come out of this! We can do this, Shepard!"

"I…no! Not everyone can be saved Garrus…how much you want to be able to say that you can people alive…you can't….I…Good doesn't exist…there's always a lot of bodies in relation to someone seeking 'goodness! I…" Shepard allowed himself to take a quick glance out the window…the mass relay filling his vision where their quarry waited. The stars beyond twinkled…

"Shepard…" Garrus repeated levelly "…Just…one…family…not everyone has to die today. Just prove to the galaxy…that there still are heroes, however small and unnoticeable they may be. We can do it…"

* * *

Wynne looked up as the large black clad soldier who'd been hovering near the entrance of the med bay coughed, the Doctor allowing his scalpel to drop from Liara's shoulder as Chakwas dragged several boxes of antibiotics and chemical suppression equipment up to the base of the bed.

"Hmm...what..." Wynne murmured absentmindedly, his eyes on the black veins on the asari's skin. They'd now reached the edge of Liara's eyes, the usual bright blue of the Asari's eye colour descending into a rather green shade, the capillaries clouding with green fluid.

"You got a package while you were down groundside..." there was the noise of loose plastic been dragged across the surface "...came just after you left, Dr."

"Well, pop it up on the table next to Doctor Tsoni's...i'll look at it later..." Wynne scratched at the base of his nose with his stylus...chemical displays running beneath his fingers "...can't say i can remember ordering anything...or giving away where i was?"

"Its actually addressed to the Normandy med staff..." the soldier was backing into the room now, dragging some large, well wrapped plastic bag behind him "...so its to both of you really. Thought best if you had a look...bit worrying what it resembles..." Wynne felt a quick draw of breath behind him as Chakwas raised a hand to her face in shock. On the floor, covered in a black plastic bag, features indistinguishable...

"Oh..." Wynne grasped the holographic display in two hands, staring at the large black body bag "...that can't be good."

* * *

Within the rusting walls of the panic room, the rattle of gunfire was permeating the walls, the screams of the dying causing the Turian mother, her robes tugged round her head, to pull her young child into her body, hugging him to her. Around them, the Turian family, their heads raised to the ceiling to the small war that was going on above, waited, their breaths coming quick and fearful.

A sudden rattle of static spilled through the space, the mother shrieking as with a throaty murmur caused an echo to spring up around the walls;

"Umm…anyone need rescuing? We've come to get you out of here."

Garrus wasn't ready for the family that burst through the door. He certainly wasn't ready for the young Turian boy that flung his arms around him with a shout of 'Garrus!' And he certainly wasn't ready for Shepard who sat on the cellar stairs, peeling an apple; his usual hard expression faltering slightly, giving way to a rather odd look.

"One Family…" he said after a time "…just one and you're happy…even if the city burns around you and monsters roam the streets."

"It pays to have a little hope, Shepard…" Garrus murmured as he allowed the black clad soldiers to guide the family up to the ship that waited on the roof. "…even in the heart of blackness, a single tiny glimmer of light is all that some people need."

Shepard laughed, the sound hard and strained, tiredness playing across his features as he pulled himself to his feet, biting into the apple and fixing the Turian in place with a grim but knowing glare.

"Hope…hope is for morons who're looking for an easy answer." He turned away and was gone into the dust giving Garrus a very clear impression of the back of his head; his boots clanking off the concrete...and that horrible, souless laugh ringing off the walls.

* * *

A/N; Bonus Section - To better understand the characters and due to the fact i've been writing to music, character themes give them a little more depth;

Dark Wings: Death is the Road to Awe - Clint Manshell

The Commander's Theme: The Doctor Forever - Murray Gold

A Shepard: Thirst for Romance - Cherry Ghost

D Wynne: Nara - ES Posthummus

Normandy SR1: Born Stubborn - Yoko Kanno

AODT: Finish the Fight - Marty O'Donnel

Squad 6: Chelsea Dagger - The Fratellis

Possible Romance: The Cave/Little Lion Man/Winter Winds - Mumford and Sons


	14. Epilogue: Tender

_A/N; In very quick succession (This chapter was written before 'Primrose Hill' and seeing as I've got exams, thought I might as well post it just to keep whoever is hooked...well...hooked) comes the next chapter. Right, mainly conversation based chapter, unlike yesterdays chapter which was...action based with lots of Hyst Sessions to get your/their teeth into. This time, we're back to a flashback once again, as you can tell there are dual stories currently going on, one giving a great deal of depth to the other and showing how Shepard gained his mentality...and his scars (The one on his forehead wasn't exactly gained during any heroic moments however). Malara's back, the Sergeant's back, Wynne's talking again and Tali's back (Yey)._

_So enjoy and Review! Though i write whether or not i have reviews, the story line is generally gripping enough for me to remain interested (Honestly, it gets better from here) or gets less rubbish, though that depends on your point of view, i love hearing feedback._

_Enjoy._

* * *

(Crackle of Static); [Choral Note]

Voice recorded as Commander Shepard Recorded; Clean up in Aisle Three.

Voice recorded as Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko; Shepard! Get off that Microphone!

_(Transcript from the 'Shopping Centre Hostage Situation' on Garthen 5. Situation resolved by Commander Shepard and Lieutenant Alenko with minimum casualties) _

* * *

Malara walked through the humming walls of the Turian frigate as the night cycle came into effect, the colorless shift she was wearing brushing along the floor as she moved. It was dark outside, the glittering stars picking out the softly lit corridors of the ship in a scattering of glittering colours. It was midnight, Illium time, the Turian Commanders in a bid to welcome the small contingent of Asari Commandos, setting the night cycles to more benefit their own body clocks. Not that it mattered, most were so exhausted by the days events that they slept in chairs, beside half eaten meals or spread across their sleeping mats, ignorant of the lengths the Turians had gone to make their stays comfortable.

It was not the only thing which occurred due to their arrival. There had been some leers from the Turian crew, being Asari attracted quite a few unwelcome stares, especially from the younger members of the Turian squads. The Maidens in the group welcomed it; such attention was welcome by some. Tania, the squad's demolition expert however, had thrown the idea out entirely, preferring the company of Krogans to the rigid military discipline of the Turians. This had caused a few problems, a few of the younger Turians feeling a great deal of loss as the young maiden walked by, completely ignorant of the looks she was receiving.

Malara, however, gained a whole new level of attention. Her green skin, speckled with brown tattoos which covered her face made her stand out from the rest of the small squad. As did her age, the Matron occupying a rather modest 400 years. Not that it affected her looks, only giving her little bit of a cold gaze which caused most to shudder uncomfortably. The teeth too…her canines were sharpened to thin points which gave her the appearance of some kind of feral creature.

Even so, the question of her looks was not why she was here as with a small smile, she greeted the single Turian guard beside the door of the cell block. The door was heavily reinforced, Malara's trained eyes playing over the thick sheet of segmented metal which guarded the portal. Twin locks held the door in place, the weak points been nigh impossible to reach, this door was design to withstand a loss of pressure within the hull. Just in case they had to jettison the prisoners…Malara bit her lip at the thought, before focusing intently on young Turian who stood before her.

"Ma'am."

"Good evening…" Malara allowed her shift to catch some draft, the light material slowly twirling round her form. "…Commander Rebus demanded that I look over the prisoners and try to glean some information about our objective. He said you'd assist me with my inspections, though I expect that you have more important things to do. I don't want to waste your time…" The Turian made a slight noise in his throat, eyeing the swell of her bosom beneath the cloth "…with such a late night, I would expect one like yourself to be off, enjoying a little meditation…" she shot a glance at the claws of the guard, his hands bare…slight scarring round the knuckles, one of the armor plates were loose. "…or sparring?"

The guard looked startled, his mandibles twitching as he breathed in the Asari's exotic scent. "…I….I….uh….I…"

"I would go and have a little break…" she whispered smiling slowly, all too aware that the Turian was following the line of her jaw "…there's no problem with me inspecting the prisoners. I can look after myself and I'm sure you'd rather be elsewhere."

"I was ordered to stay here…" the young guard eyed the green tinged irises "….I could always go and catch a small break I guess. I…"

"Good…" Malara breezed by, one bare arm moving the Turian gently aside "…perhaps I will join you later…" she whispered, gently resting a hand on his arm as she passed. "…I do like a bit of physical contact."

The Turian gargled and disappeared rapidly, his boots ringing off the floor of the corridor as he ran. Malara allowed the rather seductive smile to drop to be replaced by a rather evil smirk.

"Idiot."

She stepped through the portal; the large metal plates usually blocked any entrance to the cell blocks whirring down at her back. Unlike her squad, who dozed in their quarters, Malara hadn't been able to sleep, her dreams broken by dark shadows, rain filled skies and the brief flash of grey eyes which usually jolted her from slumber to gasp into the dark space of her quarters. It was a great feeling of curiosity which had made her come to the middle deck, the silent corridors the only witness to her bare feet padding across the cold floor. She ran her tongue round her sharpened canines in thought, her foot steps quickening as did her heart as she stepped from cell door to cell door.

Each door was a thick sheet of glass surrounded by metal bars which held the large window in place. Through the glass, small two man cells were occupied by up to three prisoners, the lengths the Turians went to punish their POWS evident as Malara passed by. Mostly Batarians, they watched her pass by with hungry stares, their mouths slightly open at the featureless shift. Malara ignored them, her breaths still coming slow and controlled now as she passed from cell to cell until at last…

Grey eyes flashed in the darkness.

"So, what did you do? Charm the guard, show a little skin and flutter your eyelids?" Shepard cut across her hearing as with two hands, she gripped the bars on either side of his cell. The man, stripped of all his armor except the grey vest and grey fatigues of an AODT, lent against the wall of his cell, one foot resting on the opposite bench.

"Oh…still pleasant I see. What other snide remarks are you going to come up with next, Sergeant."

"Well…I don't know…" Shepard chewed his lip "…you did call me a prick."

"You called me a Chamomile Tea drinking woman." Malara retorted, Shepard snorting into his hand.

"Philosophy, demand for the soul, belief in the constant circle in life, the trees been whole…rose tinted spectacles…very sweet…" he listed, scratching the side of his nose "…go figure."

"I don't hug trees, I do not believe in…oh I don't know…prancing round fields picking flowers while maidens look on in grass skirts with simpering smiles while matriarchs pour cups of chamomile tea. I don't even like chamomile tea…" Malara rested her head against the glass, trying to gauge any hint of a facial expression from the soldier "…I didn't even know what it was till I looked it up. You humans bring a great many things…"

"Yeah…" Shepard said bluntly, his eyes closed "…prancing would be bad. But you're out there in the world; I'm stuck in this metal box. A matron of…" he gesticulated, his lips moving in thought "…so…many…um…years talking to a rank and file grunt; a tad weird seeing our differences in rank…age…and…ah…species which makes me wonder; What do you want?"

"Um…" Malara felt a little stumped, her mind whirring as she worked her way through the reasons. There wasn't any response she could come up with in truth…except the usual mundanely boring topics "…So how…um…are you?"

"I'm in a large metal cell, I've been given Turian rations and my next door neighbor is a batarian with a few issues with wind and great big chip on his shoulder about the human expansion into the traverse. I've just been dragged from a beach; I've got multiple bullet wounds, a broken rib, shrapnel scaring and a bruise which looks vaguely like internal bleeding. I've got a shit load of paper work to deal with once I get back to Toombs and now I've got the righteous boot of the Turian military pressing down on me. So yeah…all, peachy here…" he retorted sarcastically.

"I was just been pleasant, Sergeant!"

"I was just been Sarcastic, Miss."

"Why are you so infuriating!"

"Why do you keep coming back!"

"Argh…!" Malara swore in Asari, the other members of the cell block looking up from their squalor as the single Matron slammed her fist into the glass, civil conversation boiling down to one very important question. "Why, Sergeant?"

"Why what…" Shepard didn't rise from his seat, his eyes in shadow as through the glass, Malara looked on with curious eyes. Shepard was…well, he wasn't muscle-bound. The broad arms which emerged from his grey vest weren't a rippling affair, the soldier more whippet lean than strong, Shepard's wiry form more suited to Zero-G fights or plunging drop pods. The only blemish on his dark skin was a single black tattoo which displayed a large black winged bird, spread eagled while beneath, Shepard's serial number was grafted onto his skin. Malara felt her anger recede a little, though Shepard still stared at her with those accusing grey eyes…

Shepard was…modest, would be the best way to describe him, built for speed rather then strength. Malara knew the Alliance soldiers tended to be bull necked, genetic modification, steroids and slight cyberisation having led to enhanced body structures. This had always made her feel a little ill, the installation of Amps was already a disgust she had to bear. The Sergeant…the AODT as a military unit broke so many stereotypes, the rugged group of soldiers weren't brawling, gung-ho soldiers, there was a faint degree of weary acceptance among those she'd met, though briefly.

Shepard, however, was something different…

He just sat there in his cell, calm, contented, his feet on the bench, not pacing about his cell, looking for a way to escape. Or perhaps he had been…Malara narrowed her eyes; the console beside the door had been fiddled with, several strands of wires tumbling from its interior…

"…well. Are you going to answer my question, Miss?"

"Why did you punch the Turian Commander? That was the most stupid thing I have ever seen one of your species do! And onboard a Turian Vessel! What were you thinking!"

"I had just been dragged from hell. A hell he'd created. That Frigate could have been down there, that frigate could have saved so many soldiers. It's wrong that he can leave so many to die with so little care. All those people who will not be coming back thanks to a tactically backward excuse for a lizard. He deserved more than having his face and pride dented…" Shepard rubbed a gnarled hand over his eyes before resuming his staring match with the opposite wall. "…is that all, Ma'am, have you finished scolding me?"

"It was a stupid thing to do, Sergeant."

"Well, thinking was never been my strong point. Knee Jerk dictated that he had to be dealt with. I prefer Knee Jerk; sometimes the consequences don't even catch up with you. At least as quickly anyway…"

"Field Marshal Toombs wants you released."

"The old Hag wants me out…" Shepard sucked his teeth "…impressive. What strings did you pull to get her to take notice?"

"I did not…" she protested, Shepard rolling his head to one side, fixing her with a flat glare, the first time he'd met her eyes all evening. "….alright fine! I may have informed your Commanders about you being in a cell. They say that you were stressed and overworked and demand…what they said was….uh…TLC…your second in command also sends his regards…" she sighed, meeting Shepard's gaze "…you should be out by morning…once you've cooled off. Rebus is not happy."

"Uh huh…" Shepard looked away, resuming his contest with the wall before him, eyes burning into the metallic surface. "…funny though."

"What is?"

"Well, it would just be a matter of waiting…" Shepard again turned to watch her intently "…but what are you doing here? Why would an Asari matron come down here to inform a single human soldier that he would be free by morning? And why the interest in how I was?"

Malara reached up to her neck line, hands diving down into her shift. Shepard raised an eyebrow as her already modest bulge grew slightly larger, the Matron fishing a large metal clod from the depths of her torso. The metal in question, dog tags jingled in the bright lights as she held them up against the door of his cell. Shepard rose up onto his feet, his head a couple of inches below her own as he stepped forward.

"Why do you have those?" he said, no emotion ringing in his voice as he spread one hand over the glass to steady himself.

"You left them on the bridge. I doubt the Turians would've of cared if you'd left these behind. Those men…" Malara's hands tightened round the bundle "…deserve a great deal more then to be forgotten, they deserve more then you acting like a thug. Would they of wanted you to be like this? Do their memories deserve to be sullied by your actions?

Shepard sucked his teeth again, gazing hungrily at the dog tags for a second.

"They probably would have wanted me to punch him, actually…" he responded after a time "…I mean, it was an absolute Charlie Foxtrot. C'mon…even you probably saw how fucked up the whole thing was…I'm sure they'd have all agreed with me."

"Oh…" Malara felt her heart sink "…Really?"

"Yup. Nice try though…" he grinned widely "…the whole guilt trip thing. Would've worked if I hadn't known most of the men you're holding in your hand. Most would have agreed with punching a high ranking Turian official…he turned round, sinking back down onto his seat "…I did it for them…" he said seriously at last before the grin returned. "…Hahaha…sullied their memories…classic."

"…I…I…oh fine. That didn't work at all…" Malara sunk down beside the door, feeling suddenly tired, a vaguely warm feeling beginning to rise at the back of her eyes, taking a seat on the cold floor and gathering her shift around her. "…what do you want me to do with them?"

"Give them to Toombs when you next see them. Those men had families to go back to. There are going to be a load of lonely people left behind in the galaxy. Even more so now we've left Earth. Expansion through invasion or exploration…" Shepard took a deep breath in his cell as Malara admired the ceiling lights "…in the end, it's a gently growing group of people you have to tell that their loved ones aren't coming back."

"Is it always like that…" Malara murmured "...I mean…you…what made you like this?"

"Well, I got brought down from top deck by a large scaly mass of metal plates with brains the size of peanuts." Shepard remarked, not reading into anything the matron said.

Malara made a face. "I mean, why you are so world weary. And stop that…it's not cute."

"I'm a soldier…" Shepard grumbled "…not a psychoanalyst. You want my psycho-whatchamacallit, then go talk to a shrink. I'm a psychologist's nightmare as it is. I bet they'd hate to have me as a patient."

"Sergeant. You're stuck in a large metal box with an age old Asari commando the only person to talk to. Humor me." Malara posed.

"Why a pessimist…?" Shepard's grey eyes flicked back to meet hers "…I don't know. There was no life changing event, no dead parents. Just a normal kid really, would like to say loving parents, a little more complicated then that. Dad was a Spacer, always was, wanted me to become a Captain, an engineer if that wasn't possible. We were Deep Spacers too, not returning to an Alliance Port for months on end. Met a great deal of people while doing, the rotten underbelly of the galaxy and…" he suddenly took on a far away look, sinking back into some memory or other "…the fiery throngs of muted angels and heart-faced kings and queens of misadventure…" he chewed his lip "…traveled, joined the military…Dad didn't like that. He wanted me to do more…I wanted to see what was out here, but not strapped into a space ship. I wanted to be down among the men… its exciting stuff in theory but never lasts beyond the air lock…" Shepard said heavily, scratching at the side of his eye with one finger "…it turns out war is one big political campaign which everyone now denies because the Universe is supposed to be safe, so people ignore the problems and the solution to the problems as long as it doesn't involve them. Which mean people like us, our achievements, get forgotten. Even so…Not hero stuff, buts a nice feeling that you've done something…even if you get saddled with a load of bumf afterward. Great Squad too…god…love those guys sometimes. So yeah…" Shepard's voice took on a hard tone, closing his eyes and grinding his jaw "…I'm not that bad…"

"You really think it's like that…" Malara rested her chin on one soft green arm "…the galaxy that is…aren't the council the right step forward? Where do they stand in your eyes?"

"The council is too small, three people to deal with needs of many. They are quite happy ignoring all the problems, getting some backroom deals to solve issues, while the entire alien population goes 'Hey, you fixed everything! Well Done! Wasn't that easy! We're fighting a forgotten war which'll be struck from the records as if it never existed. Face it miss, we're not going to be remembered for been soldiers…" he grinned widely "…my aim….is to firstly survive, live a good life, never settle down, travel the entire length of the milky way and to never ever ever have to meet the Council."

"Ha."

"Easy goals, much easier to achieve with none of the disappointment."

"Its not all that pretty you know…" Malara laughed quietly "…planets I mean, they're not all paradises."

"If they make people like you on them, I'm not going to complain."

They descended into a vaguely awkward silence, Malara inspecting her nails in the light, her face reddening.

"So…" Malara composed herself, Shepard shaking his head in the darkness of his cell, his jaw set"…have anyone who'll come with you…as in, female company…or are you a woman in every port kind of man?"

Shepard coughed, his reaction bring a small smile to the Asari's lips. He didn't say anything for a time, merely gazing intently at the alien's sculpted head.

"No…" he said at last "…had a few girls, but no one that would warrant my full attention…" he half laughed "…there was one girl…pretty little thing…lived on the same ship as me when I was younger…it took me a while to ask her out…I was a little nervous…"

"What…" Malara squinted at one split fingernail, a small smile growing on her features "…the gruff Sergeant Shepard of the ADOT…scared of a girl…from what I've seen so far…that doesn't sound like you."

"You've been reading my personal files…haven't you…" Shepard grimaced as a rather awkward seating position began to give him cramp in one leg. He let the offending article to drop to the floor with a groan.

"I may have read a few files. You're an interesting man, Sergeant. Only 23 years old and a Sergeant…never would have thought it to look at you."

"What…do I look all young and handsome…"

"No…" she replied quickly "…you look old…really…really old. Old Old in fact…for a human."

"Ah…hah…."

"Positively wrinkly."

"Yeah…"

"I can see the grey hairs from here."

"Alright…" Shepard raised a hand in surrender "…enough. Don't wear me down even further. Anyway, least I'm not bald and squid-like."

"Ouch…touch…I bet that took you a while didn't it…"

"No…!" Shepard looked mortally offended before the grin returned "…and its touché…" Malara went a vaguely peculiar colour "…actually, yeah. You caught me. Had a little diagram drawn up and everything."

"Anyway…" Malara let her head lean back, sighing as she did "…this girl…did she…I don't know…fall in love with you…" she grinned rather impishly, the cheesy situation which usually followed would be amusing at best, even if it made her stomach curdle at the thought "…was it all…I don't know…roses and romantic picnics...walks hand in hand on the beach? Rolling in the proverbial 'Haystack'?"

"First of all…no…!" Shepard again looked deeply upset by the accusation as he stirred in his seat "…you've got to be kidding. I do not 'do' the whole roses thing…its just…yarg…eeww…I mean I've read a few romantic fics in my time…not exactly my cup of tea if you ask me…" Malara's lips were moving as she slowly and silently sounded out the words "…yarg…as to vomit…cup of tea…argh…bloody aliens…'not my kinda thing'…and the girl…" Shepard snubbed at his nose with a thumb "…fell in love with a Turian. Seemed human wasn't good enough for her. Guess she thought she'd get a better grip, those big collars must be used for something."

Malara laughed, her mirth echoing through the cell block as Shepard shook his head, the grim expression slipping as he did so.

"So….Sergeant…" she said once the laughter had abated "…Do you perhaps prefer the company of…um…more exotic women."

"What…?" Shepard scrubbed at his chin with hand, the stubble rubbing hard against his hands "…do you mean like strippers?"

"No…!" Malara shook her head as Shepard looked on with a slight look of mischievousness "…I mean….like…another species?"

"No…never thought about it..." Shepard said quickly. "…didn't meet my first alien till I was seven…and spent the rest of my days with Turians and humans from that point…went to the citadel once…But…"

"…have you…eh…ever thought about it…I mean…has it ever crossed your mind."

"Not really…" Shepard managed "…never really thought about that either…sure we go to a lot of strip clubs."

"I'm been serious, Sergeant."

"No…I mean as in terms of sexuality…half nude asari…I don't really know…" Shepard bit his lip "…can humans procreate or support relationships with other races? Even if they look human just a bit of a weird colour…"

"Yes…it is possible…"

"Oh…" Shepard made a face "…never been one for biology…you lot can be whatever physiology you wish…I have no idea to what makes you tick though I'm sure some alliance bureaucrat would wish me to learn…the political engine should be rolling on oiled wheels. QED, I'm never going to find out…and I'm not going to waste creds on a stripper to 'discover the intricacies of Asari Biology…and sex drives." He finished sarcastically.

"So…you've never been taught about interspecies relationships."

"Well, outside of cucumbers…"

"Eeeww…"

"…well you gotta learn how to put them on or you'll have sprogs everywhere…" He raised one finger and said; as if teaching a smaller child 'the way the worlds work' and attempting sound vaguely academic while doing it "…I know you can have sex with Asari."

"Your knowledge in relationships continues to astound me."

"Once again…" Shepard grinned widely "…your sarcasm continues to surprise me as well."

"If you believe that Asari are all demure…then you've got another thing coming…" Malara said ruefully.

"Don't worry…" Shepard raised a hand imploringly "…I've seen what you lot do on stages…that thought…"

"Oh ha ha…."

"…That thought's gone…just gone…kaput…running for the hills along time ago…"

"Oh you're such a card…" Malara lazily glared through the glass with a sly grin. "…but honestly…yes or no!"

"Interspecies…" Shepard tapped his chin…deep in thought "…dunno…not a big fan of blue."

"Well…" Malara felt her insides sink at the next thing that came out of her mouth. If she'd been a little statelier, not half tired…and not just the littlest bit drunk from one open bottle of Honey Wine waiting beside her paperwork, she'd of stopped it before it flopped out and did something rather embarrassing on the floor. Her pride went with it too

"…how about Green?"

"Green!"

"I…I…I…" Malara looked down at her toes which poked from the base of her shift attempting to backpedal desperately, her face darkening as Shepard dug his chin into the palm of his hand and turned to face her. She didn't know why she'd said that, her heart catching her chest as she struggled to meet his gaze. The dreams perhaps, those grey eyes or maybe it was something more, something beyond the eyes. Malara couldn't quite touch it, her mind feeling giddier then a Maiden's first kiss as Shepard folded his arms, raising an eyebrow once again. Her consciousness, the little niggling patch of matureness in the back of her brain kicking her back into touch as she took a deep breath

"Hmm…" Shepard murmured after several minutes of awkward silence later "…well…it is a very nice colour."

"Oh…you do…?"

Malara rested her head back against the wall beside her, trying to assuage the smile which sprang up across her face. And they talked, past awkwardness forgotten, Shepard's blunt tones echoing from the cell as the night cycle wore on. And Malara enjoyed it…her tones fluidly passing across the confined space, the human seeming to come at ease as they talked. It was all mundane, no deep philosophical debates or meandering attempts at small talk. If they ever lapsed into silence, it would be a comfortable one, until at last, Shepard, still in his seat, fatigue draining him of all energy to move, raised an arm for her to stop.

"You'd best be going…I'm done humoring you…" He grumbled"…The turians will be coming to rotate the guards soon."

"Fine…" Malara dusted herself off as she rose to her feet "…it was…um…nice to talk."

Shepard smiled sleepily, the rough exterior now cast aside by this point replaced by a resounding openness. How he was able to sleep on the metal slats of the bench however was beyond her, the asari running hand across the glass as she made to walk away.

"Miss…" Shepard raised an arm as she passed, Malara half turning as Shepard mumbled sleepily "…thank you. It's nice to see that the other alien species aren't a right load of bastards. It's nice to see that you remembered me…" The Green woman smiled, her canines catching the light. She really felt the need to gently run her hand over his face at that point, perhaps enjoying his form…

…and that wasn't the alcohol talking either…

"Keelah'salai, Shepard."

"What?" Shepard raised himself up slightly, puzzlement registering on his features as he tried to catch the words uttered by the exotic individual that stood before him, outside the large glass cell door.

"It's a Quarian phrase…" Malara shook her head as the Sergeant looked puzzled, not recognizing the name "…another species?" she ventured, Shepard setting his face into a flat glare before that eyebrow was once again raised accusingly.

"Never seen one. What do they look like?"

Malara sighed, settling back down into her position by the door "…it's a little hard to explain."

* * *

Tali jolted awake and felt a whole world of pain crashing down around her ears. She was in an unfriendly but familiar room, where frost covered every surface. It was a tiny space, ceiling only inches away from her face, its surface covered with fernlike frost patterns. The room was filled with the rumble of the engines, vents several metres above her head, hidden midst the pipe work which covered the ceiling. It appeared to be in the baffles, the space brightly lit by several large bulbs which stripped every shadow from the walls. It was covered in white paint, every maintenance panel melded into the walls to create a single white, unblemished surface. Further inspection of the room, through bleary eyes revealed an air lock at the far end of the small space. It was labeled with a large white and red sign which read 'Clean Room' in large black letters, Tali barely able to register the words, her vision clouded by an almost opaque curtain of fluid which ran across her eyes.

She took a long guarded breath, blinking to slowly clear her vision, hands grasping for the edge of the soft thing she lay on. Some kind of bed by appearances, the soft felt running beneath her fingers as she gingerly traced the cushion edges, finding the metal edge resisting the tips of her bare fingers. And it was so cold…Tali saw her breath steaming before her eyes, her suit must be failing to process the cold, she would need to…

Her heart caught in her chest…her breath catching in her throat…cold…the thoughts were screaming through her skull now, as the biting air played across her…bare….flesh….

…Oh no…

"I wouldn't panic if I were you…" there was a rather muffled voice beside her head, Tali shrieking as realization burned through her consciousness "…or…um…not…well, there you go…ignoring me again. That's it isn't it. Don't panic…won't go well…won't go well…at…all. Won't get you anywhere."

"Keelah!" Tali jolted backward attempting to cover herself, gasping in the cold air. The bed fell away as Tali scrabbled from its now alien surface with a whoosh of air. The floor didn't offer much more, the metal nearly shattering her mind and her bones as she dropped, the air been knocked from her lungs as sheer panic gripped her. It wasn't the only thing that gripped her, rough gloved hands reaching down to gently lift her from the floor, Tali's fingers grasping at a white paper suit, her face reflected in a large silver visor, a re-breather clicking and whirring a few inches from her face. She screamed and batted at the side of the mask, the human within grunting in pain but not releasing his grip. Tali froze, panting as kneeling, the human made to rise, pulling her up with him.

"Well, retinas are working to their optimums, would have preferred it if you hadn't tried to wind yourself while doing it…" the voice which echoed from behind the mask was calming, Tali slowly sinking back down into the bed as directed "…prefer to use tools. Less painful for the patient, less bruising…less chance of a lawsuit if 'treatment goes wrong'. Would prefer it if you don't also go down the same route. Now please…Miss Zorah…_stay_ on the bed while I check you over." He pulled the warm woolen sheet she'd dislodged in her panic and pulled it back over her. For such a long period in her suit, the wool burned against her skin, each cold surface she touched was like an electric shock. Tali clamped a pale, blemished hand on the woolen blanket, wincing at it's rough fibres and tugged it round her body. It was like wearing sandpaper…but at least it was warm.

The white coated figure, a crinkly paper suit pulled loosely round his form, his head completely covered by the restrictive hood turned back to the workstation beside Tali's bed. He was wrapping a large woolen coat round his form as he did so as, to banish the freezing cold. Across the screen before him, data ran in streams, displaying Tali's life signs in a dull orange font. Tali, who'd been breathing rather rapidly, at last let her breath slow, though she clutched at her form with shaking fingers.

"Dr Wynne…?" she quavered, Wynne tapping away at a small keyboard, his head bowed, face completely obscured. She could remember him, the quiet red headed man in the lift, his hair neatly parted with a large black bag strung over his shoulder. It was like looking at one of her own, Tali's own mind doing cartwheels as the closed off, suited human went around his work. Just like…me…

"Your teeth are fine…to Quarian standards…" Wynne tapped several words onto his omni-tool, activating several holographs on the console in front of him. "…bit of plaque round 5 and 6…I would recommend brushing a little more…" he at last turned to face her, the cold gathering on the desk beneath his fingers. The room was freezing cold, the Normandy's clean room tacked onto the side of the ship, the air constantly frigid as it housed most of the climate control equipment. Perfect for dealing with air borne pathogens, Tali had used this room a great many times before, usually during suit repairs, the tiny space becoming a sanctuary to her.

Now, it seemed it had become Wynne's own office. Tali marveled at how fast Wynne had moved into this spot, the speed he'd gone around making the small space his own. Pictures were tacked onto the walls, each covered with a thin layer of frost while small holos, usually displaying portions of anatomy slowly revolved on rounded metal dishes. Surgical equipment such as scalpels and hacksaws waited in large metal trays in shelves which ran along the walls, some still blood stained and waiting to be cleaned, others so heavily corroded through acid cleaning that they glittered, their well polished surfaces catching the light. It was a cold, soulless room, the freezing air and bright lights pulling any degree of comfort from the small space, the rounded ceiling lost in the pipe work.

Except for the single, eccentric humanoid who now occupied it. It wasn't quite as soulless…but still, the fingers of discomfort burrowed into the side of her mind.

It always made Tali shudder that her only release from the suit was this freezing cold space, the lighting invasive and alien as she extracted herself from its confines to shiver in the biting air. Now, it felt even more uncomfortable, mainly due to the human who'd taken up residence within the sloping ceilinged space.

"You took quite a nasty bit of damage there. Multiple burns, nothing third degree…" Tali winced as a soft patch on her abdomen caught her fingers. "…heat build up melted the suit, causing multiple stress marks across you skin. I would avoid contact with those areas if you want to keep the blemishes to a minimum, the ones related to the burns anyway…" Wynne scratched at the back of his head, the paper hood coarse under his fingers. "…Quarian suits are mistakenly weak to the eye, though you're particular model resisted most of the heat, merely melting the exterior and keeping the interior exoskeleton intact. Not just that, however…" he turned to face her completely now, unfazed by her bare skin raising a 3d x-ray image up to his eyes with two fingers "…I have never seen such extensive cybernetic adaption. I knew the Quarians have implants, but not as thorough as yours. You've got more metal then a Turian veteran holding you together as well as several yards of fibre-optic cable…"

"Why aren't you shocked…!" Tali croaked, surprise been replaced slightly by fear as the Dr folded his arms "…I mean, you know Quarians' in their suits…but faces, skin! Why aren't you at all fazed by this?"

"Because you tend to get a mighty good look at alien species when they're laid out on a slab..." The carefree tone in the Dr's speech was lost a little, a resounding grim tone echoing plainly in the human's voice "…but no matter. I am not shocked and I will not be telling the crew about your appearance, adapted much however is it." He made a rather owlish expression, as if trying to rearrange the words in his head.

"You've…cut…up…Quarians…?" Tali said, her voice small and shocked as Wynne turned back to his console, tapping away at some report or other. "…my people…?"

"They were dead when I went through the suit if that's what you're wondering, and not because of me either. Its through people like me, the universe can understand what makes each other tick. A holographic scan is one thing, actually seeing and feeling each separate part is whole different matter…" he eyed her rather horrified but rage filled expression "…I bet you've cut up the Geth, humans, other alien species. Everyone wants to know how the other person works, whatever the species. Either to kill the other or just to understand…knowledge is fleeting, but I'm not going to waste lives in the pursuit of it. That's to much like…them…" he gained a wistful tone and a hard look, Tali ignoring this and instead looking round for a visible weapon. "…what was her name…named after one of Uranus's moons…slipped my mind….doesn't matter…" he jolted back to reality. "…and I assure you, I will not kill you, or want to hang your corpse up as a trophy…I haven't got a mantelpiece to do so, so that's out of the question…" he laughed, before waving his arms "…joking, joking, joking. The only reason I cut up bodies is to find out why they are lying on my slab in the first place. That and I'm saving their lives."

They lapsed into silence, the pathologist turning back to his work station. Tali shivering as the air conditioning gurgled away quite happily to itself.

"How long have I been out?"

"Three days…" He brought up a holographic display on the console in front of him, writing some report or other "…the others…they've been worrying about you."

"Why isn't the rest of the crew here…I mean…I thought…"

"Like a bed side vigil? No…private…you out of your suit…I thought that you would of appreciated them not seeing. Also, too many possibilities of outside infection."

"Thank you…for stopping the infections…and…"

"You hoped Shepard would be here..." Wynne said matter of factly, Tali's intake of breath enough to raise an eyebrow behind the reflective mask "…the erstwhile Commander waiting beside your bed. Romantic, Poetic….clichéd…" Wynne cracked his fingers "…however, the crew are also perturbed in other issues. You see, after you were burned alive…things took a little more of an interesting turn."

Tali felt her cheeks darken as the human continued to tap quite contently away at his keyboard.

"That's not what I meant…" She murmured quietly, folding her hands in her lap and took a deep breath. "…The Commander doesn't flirt with alien crew members."

"…and though I am not one for 'fertilizing' romance, why exactly do you believe this is so?"

"Because…because he just does…" Tali floundered desperately for reason "…I don't know! Emotions are so complicated…machines…much easier to understand and they don't talk back to you. Humans just have so much…um…Heartfire?"

"But they burned you alive…the machines that is."

"Aside from that…I mean that's the fifth time I've caught fire this week..." Tali patted her chest, her voice slurring as she attempted a bit more of a 'Surfer Dude' accent "…oh yeah. I'm figuratively and literally on fire."

"You watch too many vids, though I see you're making good use of human phrases. Never thought the Quarians had any views on the human race…appears you've been using the translators pretty well."

"I can say most things, quite a bit of Quarian slang doesn't translate, as does human swearwords. I've never tried to speak human before…" Tali picked at a tooth with one long finger and inspected the substance clinging to the end of her finger. "…urrggghh…you were right."

"Not a great dentist…but know my stuff…" Wynne grinned widely behind the mask as Tali dug her finger back into her mouth. "…so go on…why not Shepard."

"Du daaahing choman…" she stopped trying to clean her teeth with a nail and removed her finger "…sorry…The Dashing Commander with his crew of misfits out to save the galaxy. Sure…" she made an odd gesture with her left hand "…doesn't last as long as the fics and vids make you believe. I'll stick to my books about machines, removes the disappointment. Anyway…he's got Liara."

"Who's currently in the med bay with blood poisoning…or some kind of new genetic substrate which is altering her dna…" he gestured with two hands at the Quarian's shocked expression. "…She'll be fine. Just not exactly…as normal when she wakes up. Long story…anyway…Shepard has not been conducting a bed side vigil with her either."

"Yeah…but this is the Commander we're talking about…" Tali leant forward to reinforce her point "…you know, about as sensitive and understanding as Haestrom and as about as welcoming as Rannoch. He has other ways of showing his affections."

"What like bashing them over the head with a club…?"

"What…?"

"Sorry, old human expression…doesn't matter."

"He wants someone he can see, he can feel, he can…I don't know…love? I…I…wouldn't be…like…interesting…the suit….well…its very impassive…"

"You're telling me."

"Shut up. Talking to people…I know my immune system will never return…it won't work…Shepard has the pick of the entire galaxy."

"Shepard is a grizzled soldier with more scars and metal holding him together then the last attempt at making an elcor to run faster. I get the impression it's very hard for anyone to 'fall' for the Commander…" Wynne dusted off several centimeters of frost of his coffee cup and extracted a straw "…On a first impression scale…Shepard's crap. Over a long period of time…"

"…he has a black soul full of bright stars…" Tali said quietly.

"The suit has never mattered…people can fob off what some say about seeing beyond the outside layer. However, I know for a fact that it can work. It's Shepard with the problem…not you…." He turned, fishing an environmental suit from a side cupboard. Tali was glad to see her scarf, its purple folds criss-crossed with silver thread was resting on top. Under closer inspection, it was clear to see the tiny thread cogs, machine parts and old machine plans sown into the fabric creating a wonderful network of patterns. "…people love the suit and are fascinated for what lies beyond. If this was published as a book, you'd have fans. On this ship; you are appreciated by the crew. Higgins, Beck and Adams have all missed you terribly…I do believe Adams has quite fondness for you. If you can manage that with them and the crew…think what you can do with Shepard." Tali rested her replacement suit on her knee, struggling to come to terms with what Wynne had just said.

"I'm not that good…" She said waveringly "…I smell, I'm usually covered with oil or some other material, I sometimes glow blue if I've been in the eezo sinks, I catch fire on a regular basis, my work ethic is questionable, I have no immune system…"

"And there you go…listing problems…" Wynne pointed out "…constraints. That's how things develop. Remove constraints…no growth…no interest in trying to improve oneself, to become better or if better…different. Great Man…well…I say man, taught me that once. You have constraints but you're exceptionally clever…and you're an engineer and you're one of the best Quarian techs to walk the worlds, on board a ship hunting down monsters and aliens surrounded by the brightest and best…and…well….me. Now…tell me something…is that a girl struggling with the hand 'fate' if you will, has dealt her."

There was a barely controlled scream from one of the other rooms, Tali jumping in her seat, her scarf tumbling to the floor at her feet. Wynne smoothed the white paper of the suit's forehead, sighed and closed down the console under his finger tips.

"Looks like Liara just woke up."

In the following flurry of activity before the mad sprint for the door began, Tali noticed in the corner of her eye, that several of the anatomical holographs weren't organs or bone structures. On one, several holographic flowers floated in air, their colours lost in the image so only the shape remained. On another, a spider wandered across a web in constant repeat, ever appearing on the left of the image and leaving on the right to reappear once again on the left.

And the last…Tali felt her heart skip a beat as she leant closer, pulling the woolen shrug closer around her form. A Quarian woman was suspended in the holo, along white coat with many pockets strung across her environment suit. She had a large black bag hanging over her shoulder, it swinging to one side as the animated image turned to face the photographer, one hand on her hip, as if waiting for whoever was taking the picture to catch up.

"Tali…" Wynne said warningly from the door "…get your suit on and head up to the CIC; you'll be in time for the Commander's debriefing up in the comm. room…we've got a new mission…" he paused, digging a hand into a large plastic pot by the door "…and one other really important thing…" he extracted his hand, a red globe on a white stick wrapped in a clear square of plastic waving around in his hand. "…lollypop? I've got Dextro!"

* * *

_A/N Well, it'll be a while till i next publish, i've got three exams left then I'm free (Yey). I made a point not to really reveal what Tali looks like under the suit. Like the game, the player is merely given brief glances to what Tali really looks like. But she won't be perfect, years in a suit is going to cause skin colour to be pale at best, perhaps blotchy...and then there's the cybernetic augmentation? I did read once about how Quarians had implants...just thought it would make life interesting if i played a little more on that idea._

_Hope you enjoyed reading...i really enjoyed writing this segment. I'm experimenting with different options for dialogue so the conversations remain fresh...and realistic. Anyway, next chapter will be more conversations...Tali finds Shepard has a vague soft spot for her, Liara makes a shocking find and the crew's next stop takes them to Illium where a chance encounter sends Shepard's grasp on the mission spiraling out of the control._


	15. Prologue: The Death of the Party

_A/N Right, well its been a while, but its time for the next chapter. I'm on my Hols now, so chapters should be coming thick and fast, i have it all planned out so hopefully, you'll all find it entertaining. It definitely gets better from this point onward. Anyway, new character been introduced, Shepard's rival in all this as well as reference to another entity known as Eve. _

_Some Gore so be warned. _

* * *

This is what it comes down to does it? I leave you for a second and everything goes to pot.

_Commander Shepard during the first visit to the Citadel after the completion of Project Lazarus_

_

* * *

_

The environment suit came on with some difficulty; the barely used replacement was exceedingly difficult to get on. Everything was tight, especially in the freezing cold interior of the 'Clean Room', the plastic, felt and metal weaving shrinking in the low temperatures. Tali was thin…but not that thin, the suit at last pulling up around her head with one firm yank, which nearly cut off the blood supply permanently to her thigh. The Mask fell into place with a hiss as around her body, she could feel the seams to coming together under their own power, the monofilament weaving seeking out each break in the suit's exterior and fusing to one another to create a seamless whole. It was nice to hear the capacitators and the internal batteries whirring into life, Tali pulled the straps into place, clips slotting together over her torso before at last…with a degree of reverence, the scarf was draped over her form, securing it place with another set of fiddly clips and clasps.

It was easy to get claustrophobic within the suits; Tali could remember her last few days within the bubble till the suit was strapped to the rather reluctant Quarian teenager. They'd been a little anxious…perhaps a little impatient, the bubbles weren't exactly practical to move around in; they always had a habit of snagging on something when moving. But Tali had gotten used to it; the last suit she'd worn had been with her for three years so she'd felt a slight sense of loss when it had melted to her form. This one was new, characterless and sterile. Give it time; scrabbling round in the tubes and eezo sinks would be enough to rid the soulless feel of the suit.

…the thought didn't replace her tool belt though…

Liara's station was empty as Tali hared through the warmer interior of the back room, the dual airlock door whirring closed behind her with a rush of air. The med-bay was also all but deserted, a thick curtain pulled round one of the beds. Dr Wynne's shadow, bulkier then usual with the white paper suit still occupying the lower portion of his body, was addressing another large lump…a table with legs.

"Look…" the shadow was saying "…a few rudimentary changes in your DNA and you're not dying…no don't say that…look…I think the colour's fine…no…no…well, it adds a little variation if I'm honest but I don't think the crew will notice particularly…well actually, they might…" there was another muffled response, Tali's feet slowing to catch the last of the conversation "…we could always paint the eyebrows back on if you want…"

"I'm Green…!" Liara waved a rather odd coloured arm under Wynne's nose, the Doctor hugging a data-pad to his chest with a quiet groan. "…bright green...! How by the goddess did this happen!"

"We were unable to control the spread of chlorophyll through your blood stream though I managed to adapt the toxin before it affected your eyes and turned you into 'one of them'…so be a little thankful."

"I….am…Green."

"I…am…Tired…" Wynne put a little force on each word, the maiden still staring rather defiantly with her now green tinged eyes. "…a bit of DNA rewriting is nothing to moan about. It just adapted a few chromosomes, few particles, heavily adapted your Haemoglobin levels, small fry stuff. I managed to record several instances of increased REM activity, increased neurological activity also."

"You speak as though this is an everyday occurrence." Liara stared rather glumy at her bare green arm, her eyes travelling up to where a large white bandage blocked her view of the wound.

"Well, an odd experience with the more interesting toxins out there. But nothing much. It pays to keep on top of these things I guess…" Wynne brought up the Haptic Display beside the bed, his eyes flickering over the data which the machine had pouring across with its many screens "…this toxin was specifically biological in origin carrying a multitude of spores to adapt or attack DNA once it enters an organic species. By the looks of things, the contaminant isn't bred; it is within itself…alive. Born, not made."

"It can think?"

"Well, its not that clever, basic bacterial processes, however it can target certain areas and seems to display a limited amount of intelligence, seeming quite capable of adapting to human, Asari, Quarian, Krogan or Turian DNA…" he eyed that rather nervous stare he was receiving and cleared his throat "…I didn't test it on the crew, didn't really expect I had to specify that one. Stored samples. Each showed genetic adaptations in matter of minutes."

"How…exactly was the thing 'adapting'?"

"Have you seen a specimen dish grow eyes and look at you?"

"Oh…"

"Yes…" Wynne tapped several more panels and activated his omni tool "…not pleasant. Highly adaptive…" he waved his arm in her direction, the holographic gauntlet whirring "…but you're all clear. Wouldn't expect it'll return unless its more 'sentient' then I recorded…" he paled slightly as his omni tool chimed "…and it's toying with me…um…Must do more tests…must do more tests..." he was gone in a cloud of white powder, the frost quickly melting on his white paper suit. Liara pinched her single bare arm, patted her equally green stomach and looked as though she expected something to burst from its depths. After a time, rising to her feet so gingerly, it appeared as if she was about to explode, she left, pulling her lab coat around her as she did.

* * *

The dark sky of Illium was lit by the hundreds of Neon lights, their colours tingeing the sky a mixture of violent shades. It had been cloudy for sometime, atmospheric storms littering the many walkways with glittering puddles, sending most of Nos Astra's inhabitants scurrying for cover. Even with the recent downpour, however, Illium still buzzed, the lights homage to its lively nightlife…and inhuman business hours. It was nearly past twelve o'clock, Earth time. Not that the inhabitants knew or particularly cared, Illuim offered too many delights for a pause for thought. To stop…was problematic, opportunities were missed…stragglers were picked off by the proverbial wolf, which usually wore yellow and black and carried a gun.

Rain speckled the windows of Styxchis's Office, the city outside ignorant of the dark office and single Asari who sat, slumped in a chair. The screen before her flashed with many lurid colours, the lights of advertisements playing across her purple features. Her red tattoos which burst from her square jawed face were creasing in near inconsolable grief as the Asari detective; her hands limp down either side of the chair as she slowly cycled through the usual mundane animations that made up Nos Astra late night extranet. Not that she was registering what was flashing by before her eyes; the multiple pictures of happily smiling Asari brandishing bottles of 'Cure-all' tonics to restore symmetry to their scalps flickering in sync.

Styxchis let her hand fall, an empty glass clattering to the padded floor from her limp fingers the only noise within the silent interior of the office. The tears had gone; the screaming had stopped as the pure misery which had wracked her form was replaced by a dull numbing pain.

Living at high altitude raises intelligence, an ad proclaimed as roof top apartments flashed across the projected screen. Scantily clad asari beckoned seductively from shining white apartments, swimming pools and large roof top gardens…

She changed channel, the light playing across the expansive interior of the office. There was one desk, pushed into the corner of the room with the chair back against a large panoramic window which took up the entire wall. Opposite, only a door handle served as evidence of its existence, the door was set into another large glass window, the reinforced glass covered with a white film which made it impossible to see outside of the room's confines, or in, for that matter. Holographic consoles were plastered up against the two windowless walls, their images cancelled for now.

Styxchis had no time for the work they once projected, the data forgotten, her attention focused solely on the large screen before her eyes.

Blasto the first Hanar spectre, his pink body holding aloft an array of dangerous heavy weapons.

She changed channel with barely a twitch, the computers at her back humming as colleagues stared up from fallen photos which littered floor beside her desk. A potted plant lay on its side by the door, having been thrown across the room in a fit of rage. Papers, holos and data pads were scattered across the floor, some scrunched into balls, others discarded under the desks surface, teetering piles of work having tumbled down into the chaos of the floor.

An advert for Environment suits, lawyers to protect against discrimination while Quarians gave their life stories on camera, their hands plucking nervously at suit cuffs while Volus garbled their way through their attempts at speech, pausing for breath regularly.

There was a clatter of movement out in the corridor, the lights of the space beyond flickering. Styxchis didn't look up, swollen eyes focused intently on the image before her face. Shadows now, running along the walls as something chittered in the corridor.

The lights snapped off, the room plunging into darkness as the limited light from the corridor was cut of. Styxchis shivered, the sudden cold brought on by the suddenly active air conditioning plunging temperatures well below a comfortable level. Styxchis yelped, springing from her chair with athletic grace, the asari's long limbed form unfolding outward. Years in the Nos Astra police force had taught her that mourning should not come in the way of survival. Upon seeing the shadows which were burning through the corridor outside, this was truly coming into play.

Like her name sake, she'd killed many times before, the asari officer yanking a pistol from her work station with barely a click, the pistol whirring to life beneath her fingers. But that had been mercs, random idiots who decided they wanted their fifteen minutes of fame. 'This'…was different. She darted across the room, her feet leaving welts in the carpet as she skidded to a halt beside the door. Even as her heart quickened, adrenaline causing her arms to shake, her brain was quietly telling her that; 'wouldn't it be nice if you were wearing more then a vest and underwear'. Styx swore, her hand clasping at her bare-skin as with the other, she raised the pistol.

The door opened with a dull hiss. Outside it was pitch black, the silvery walls briefly catching the lights of the cars outside as they whipped by, but that was it. Darkness reigned eternal beyond the thick tinted windows, Styx slowly rising to her feet and stepping out into the frigid interior of the hall. It was freezing here too, the officer shivering as above her head, the air conditioning units continued to whirr with renewed vigour.

"I know what you are…." She stammered into the darkness, fear replacing defiance however much she tried, her pistol flicking from one dark shadow to another. "…come out and face me!"

Nothing replied, the dark wallowing before her eyes.

"You can't take me like you did her…!" Styxchis managed after a time, hands grasping for the door handle, her pistol forgotten as she desperately put her weight to the door handle, the door not moving beneath her fingers. Whatever was out there, however much it refused to give away its position, however unknown it was, Styxchis only knew fear as with force she wrenched the door open and fell into the cold interior of the office, her sanctuary from the dark outside.

"What we did to her…what exactly did 'we' do to her…?" The voice buzzed, purring through the open space of the room. Styxchis felt her heart drop as in a flash of realisation, she realised that the chair behind her was facing away from, the bulk of its shadow now turned toward the window, a hunched shape sinking deeper into the leather cladding. "…because I get the impression that you're not really sure exactly what we did to her? All you seem to appear to know is exactly what 'we' are and what exactly 'It' is."

"You….you…you…" Styx let the pistol drop, her hands beginning to shake as the shadows in the hall flickered. "…I know you…you're…"

"You've been doing your homework…you're also stuttering…" there was a slight cough. The voice, even if the source was indistinguishable was cold, hard with such a bite that it chilled the very bones of the asari. It spoke of ice and white sterile spaces, the tang of something metallic sounding in each word. "…how very annoying, when the so called hostage in this little joyful situation cannot speak back. How am I supposed to get my information if the creature, as in her can't even speak correctly?" This was more spoken to the room itself, the sudden flicker of brown cloth under the shadow drawing Styx's eyes away from the black mass of the chair, more trying to penetrate the shadow to try see the person within.

"Still, I do love these melodramatic entrances. Dark chairs in pitch black rooms over looking some cityscape while in the corridors outside, things seethe and move and gnash their teeth…" there was a faint sigh "…there is no penance to do so if one is good, more so if one is evil. Good lacks the ability of 'Good Entrances', dramatics is only used by the idiots who wish to hide their failures behind a flashy show. Evil however…" the chair span round as the lights flashed. The thing that had been waiting in the chair was upright in a blur.

The intruder was definitely asari, though green skinned unlike the usual blue. She had an angular face; each part had a definite sharp edge, as with green tinged eyes, she glared with a rather hard expression at the single asari that stood before her. She was tall, her form covered with a large brown dress which was vaguely figure hugging, the organic looking cloth showing the evidence of a body beneath but not enough to leave little to the imagination. It was broken only by a long gap cut from the base of her neck to the top of her breasts, revealing the green skin underneath. The trademark sculpted flesh 'hair' of the asari race was hidden beneath a large brown hood, two strands of fabric framing the angular face, ending at waist height where they swung from side to side as she moved.

"…Me…." She gestured widely with two bare arms, the sleeves flapping up round her shoulders. There was an unearthly amount of green veins running across her arms, their path easy to see through her skin. "…you want evil! Ta Da! I'm evil…!" there was a horrific flash of insanity behind those two green eyes.

"What in the name of the Goddess are you doing in my office…!" The stammer was gone, the sheer force been pushed into her voice would have been enough to make most asari shrivel "…who are you?"

"I…" the other responded levelly "…am Matriarch Elana. And these…" there was a horrible rattling gurgle of breath as the door brushed open with a blast of cold air "…are my friends."

What was left of an asari staggered through the door. It was clear to see the black veins which ran through her arms, her bare skin taking on a green tinge even as she walked into the bright space of the room. The remains of her body were a rotting, burnt and warped mess, her arms distending as she moved, what lurked beneath plain to see. Part of the creature's lower jaw was missing, her tongue lolling in its place while within the dark hole which remained of her throat, green slimy things moved with, the gurgle of something moving within the only noise.

"Aisha…" Styx breathed, her heart skipping a beat as the Hyst lurched forward, a human in a similar state following closely behind. Styxchis didn't feel, she didn't see even as her senses and feelings screamed into her ears, the pain of all those lost days, the lover's words in her ear and last embrace before she'd left. Aisha, that had been her name, Aisha, that had been the body which had once been full of life but now stood before her "...Aisha….!" Styxchis was screaming as the creature, the Hyst sank settled back, the remains of the security uniform slowly falling away to reveal the discoloured, distended skin beneath. It stank of organic material, the hissing mockery of breath sending a dull mist of spittle from the empty hole where the mouth had once been.

"Ah…what a waste of lovely young life, she was definitely of more use to us in this form, the Legacy was extremely happy include such young talent into our little happy group…" Elana firmly wrenched the whimpering, screaming asari from the floor, the terrified angst filled eyes draining the blood from around the edges of the eye sockets "…up you get…wouldn't be proper to not properly greet your little mistress once again…" she nodded to the two aliens that stood before her with a rather quick smirk, adding; "…so quit being melodramatic for once, I didn't think it would be like you to lurk in the darkness…"

_**It would be wise…**_more spoken from within, the tones muffled but strangely feminine, the thing, the hyst slowly gargled _**…to discontinue the snide comments. We deemed it necessary to remind people that fear is very much alive.**_

"Fear is only good against the stupid and the lost who have no hope of survival. You do not need fear…you need power not fear…"

You will be silent.

Elana ran two pinched fingers across her lips as if closing a zip and made a gesture as if she was throwing away the key. The Hyst's face sagged into a rather flat glare, the human shell behind it following suit. Behind the face, however, something chittered to itself.

"You…you….you…turned her into a monster!" Styx found her voice, scrabbling for her pistol as the creature, what was left of her Aisha turned to fix her with the green tinged dead eyes. It seemed as though the hyst was currently calculating what course of action is was going to take next, its head snapping to one side with a rather disgusting gurgle.

_**Are we**__** a monster? We bear the semblance of a lesser organic species, but is it my appearance or the actions that I've perpetrated?**_

"You killed her…you killed her…Oh Goddess…." She sank her head into clawed hands, her nails digging blue blood from her skin's surface "…you turned her into that and now you've brought her back to see me…are you trying to taunt me!"

_**You refer to us as the killers while your thoughts and actions truly link to a killer; **__**sending her to scout out that ship. Did you think we'd go so easily, that a simple trap would hold us?**_

"We had to…we had to try and stop you…" Styx let her head fall, barely able to stay upright as the 'puppet' of her dead lover sagged once again like a full bag of fluid. "…get you all onto that ship and blow the fusion core, destroy all of you in one blast. That's how you die isn't it…kill it with fire."

_**And what was the name of your failure**__**…**_

Grey cloth flickered across Styx's mind's eye as she recalled the last vids from within the doomed ship, the blood on the walls, the massacred crew and the single grey figure that strode through the wreckage. She knew the name, read the files but never understood what exactly this 'creature' truly meant. Until now…

"Eve…" She said simply "…its name was Eve."

_**You know us. You must have had some inkling that we were near infallible…**_the Hyst gurgled, its eyes showing a strange sheen unlike any Styx has come across before _**…the woman charged with watching our paths did not see this coming. The Justicars knew what we are and here you fail, alone, forgotten and now the last.**_

"I know that the others are dead…." Styx murmured, Elana turning away to gaze out across the city. "…If I knew less, I would've guessed it was you…" she made a face "…but I know now, I know what you're capable of doing. I know what you want…"

A hand was extended, a cold clammy hand that cupped Styx's face, the finger's roving over her smooth blue face. Styx flinched, trying to pull herself away as with a gurgle, the Hyst twitched, an arm distending, the sudden burst of muscles sending the detective across the room, skidding to a halt on bare heels, reaching for her discarded pistol.

_**Now the gate has been unlatched, headstones pushed aside, corpses shift and offer room; a fate you must abide**__**. **_Morbidly it was chanting, the strange sing song note of the female voice gargled from the destroyed mouth, the two Hyst springing forward with such grace unlike their lurching footsteps before. The level of animal intelligence Styx had usually come across when dealing with the Hyst before was gone, the creatures quite capable of rationalising in that cold, bright space.

The other asari made to speak, her lips never coming apart as she attempted say something. Even in the carnage, the two others turned to face her, the Hyst snarling as the tall shape raised a finger, mimed undoing a zip which had been keeping her mouth closed, before with a quick gasp of air, said;

"Unlike the quick death, it promised you, you caused me a lot of trouble, the lost ship and now we've given away the fact that we existed, ignorance was always best and seeing as Legacy never truly understood the need for PR, I got saddled with a whole load of paper work. We cannot swan around killing things and leaving a bloody swathe without having to be afflicted with a great deal of paperwork…" she bowed low to the Hyst before turning to Styx, her lips arching up into a cruel smile "…so I am allowed my little 'graces'. Have you ever played chess…?" She grinned widely at this "…wonderful little human game, passes the time in FTL when I'm bored. But here…I'm very bored…I need your chess pieces…or at least…where they are…"

Styx opened fire with a yell, the Hyst barely registering the rounds as it stormed across the room, seizing the asari's neck with a gurgling snarl. Styx felt the room shift, her breaths now laboured under the foul smelling mitt which had her pinned. Behind the Hyst's eyes however, things moved, foul creatures stirring in the tear ducts as green fluid fell free.

"The Co-ordinates…" the green asari leant in close, the pistol falling from the security officer's limp fingers as she was lifted from the floor, whimpering slightly as tentacles sloughed from within the arm, wrapping themselves tighter around her neck. She was clawing desperately at the Hyst's arm, the creature itself observing her struggles through mocking and empty eyes, its head twitched to one-side as if curious. "…of the ship that left Muerta."

"So…ah…you're not as infalliable as you say…" Styx managed before the Hyst tightened its grip. Bones ground together as Elana lent a hand on the Hyst's shoulder, a small smirk sharpening the corners of her mouth for a split second before it was gone.

"Very cute…It is fair to say that there is a rogue element among the ranks that keeps going walkabout. You tracked two ships; I recall...I want to know where ship number two went."

"Hah…" Styx muttered, gasping for air as she was lifted higher, never taking her eyes off the creature that held her in place "…why should I tell you anything…you can't kill me if you need information…so would this be a stalemate?"

"Fine. Be that way..." The asari grinned widely, patted the arm of the Hyst and wiped the ichor off on her dress before turning away to the door. "…play nice."

"No…no…what're you doing…!" Syyx shrieked as the Hyst tightened its grip further and began to draw her closer, the remains of it's head peeling back to allow the jaws to open wider "…don't leave me in here with this…this…thing!"

"Why…" the woman, the Matriach turned on the spot, smiling one gentle smile before reaching for the door handle "…the information we need is in your head. I was merely giving you the painless death, but instead you chose to disobey. So, we're going to take your brain now. Good bye!"

The second Hyst, its human shell twitching allowed a horrible grin to form on its features as the tentacles within stirred its rotting muscles. In her ungainly position, some metres above the floor, Styx took in the last long look of her ex-lover's face, her breaths coming short as the Hyst, in the horrific semblance to a small girl's voice wheedled;

_**The Pretty lady doesn't like us…**_

There was a rattle of breath behind as the other Hyst, its discoloured skin stretching as muscles form beneath, brought its gaze back from the door rushing closed behind Elana's form and stared directly at the suspended Styx.

_**Silly Lady…**_It gurgled, baring its teeth as behind the smile, fangs were beginning to sprout from torn gums

…_**Dead Lady**_

_**

* * *

**_

"Look…this is insane…" Tali stood to one side of the door of the briefing room as the small ground team filed out. She appeared to have just missed the end of the briefing and seeing the rather tired looks on the faces of those involved, it hadn't gone well. Garrus was looking extremely thunderous as he passed, the turian's eyes narrowed down to slits as he slowly acknowledged the engineer's presence with a swift nod. Directly behind him, the rest of the squad, most bearing rather haunted expressions, trooped rather slowly into the CIC before making off to their stations with little said. Tali received a few curt nods, the slight feeling of disappointment weighing down on her psyche. Perhaps Wynne hadn't been correct…she fiddled with one cuff and stepped into the warm interior of the com room.

The Commander, leaning into a holograph, was lit by many orange lights, his back to her as he lent further forward, as if trying to make a point by invading the one Turian councillor's comfort zone. It wasn't working, obviously. Moreover, what the Turian was receiving on the other end of the link was the magnified image of Shepard's nose. Not that the Commander cared. By the looks of his face…he was on the verge of rage.

"This is insane! Once again…you deny the existence of another dangerous alien race!"

"We do not deny…" The asari warbled, the distortion of the comm. link putting Tali's teeth on edge as she waited beside the open door, her arms folded. "…that these 'Bogeymen' existed, but in a mythical form…we cannot jump to conclusions about their existence if there is limited proof."

"Muerta is gone, there's nothing left but dust and bodies and Hyst. You cannot deny they exist, there are bodies!"

"As they're impossible to kill, I doubt there will be any…" The salarian looked vaguely uncomfortable as the Turian beside him shot him a rather hard glare "…the myths about such creatures usually related to the fact the 'Hyst' consumed the bodies of the dead, making them part of a horde. Suffice it to say, no bodies have been found and seeing the death toll relating to these 'creatures', there should be a rather large horde wandering the stars right now."

"Oh…" Shepard grimaced "…that's…vaguely true. However, you cannot deny the possibility of these creatures. There is footage…there is still things wandering around down there!"

"Which is within a town ship on Tortuga…which is in the Terminus Systems. It was bad enough you were already within the Systems and not within council space. That is enough to stir a war between us and 'Them' and now you're asking us to destroy a civilian centre with WMDs which are technically illegal under council law. It was an unnecessary risk to take, the consequences of your actions will be swift."

"It was very necessary. We had a lead!"

"A lead not referring to the chase for Saren, I might add…" The Turian was back, Shepard raising an eyebrow, he'd been adding quotation marks with his fingers to each mention of the word 'Hyst' "…you are off task and outside the council's area of interest and jurisdiction. You're calling your actions into question Commander."

"You didn't stop Saren! His actions were questionable. He's now hell-bent on the destruction of all organic life! Wow! I bet you didn't see that one coming!"

"We are fully away of the contradiction in terms…Commander…" The asari exchanged a glance with the salarian beside her. "…however, I would like to make a point that you still are answering to us. Saren did not relay much back to the council up to the point where his Spectre status was revoked."

"Why is it everytime I come up with something groundbreaking you always deny its existence…?" Shepard clamped his hand over his eyes and dragged it down in exasperation. "…I did not make up the wound one of my squad members received that is currently altering her DNA; I did not make up that space ship that wiped out an entire town. Heat and confusion of battle aside, it easy to see when a body has no head but is currently walking around…no real room for a mistake there."

"We require greater amounts of Data. Spectres answer to the council and in that fact; their words are taken into far greater account. However, seeing your past history, old bogeymen seem to be creeping out of the woodwork the entire galaxy. Reapers and now Hyst…" the Turian attempted to scowl and failed, putting Shepard in mind of a rather happy bird "…and you want us to 'Glass' a planet under a piece of evidence that your men and you cannot prove happened."

"Tell you what…why don't you shut the fuck up? All you do is say no. Is it possible that the council actually gets anything done? I mean…c'mon…" Shepard gestured wildly. "…do you actually do anything! What was the last law you passed? Oh yeah…garbage disposal on the citadel…fish licenses!"

"We understand that there was no way your men can be mistaken…." The asari said coolly "…But could this be another Geth trap. Such as the Husks you found on Eden Prime. We studied those and they clearly resemble the 'Hyst' you encountered.

"Those glowed neon blue, made of metal not a great amount of resemblance…what we came across was far more organic…" Shepard activated a data pad with a small chime "…resources show that there was no close linked signal between beings, no evidence of data transfer between platforms…we did not read any mechanical parts on the bodies and no Geth ships were logged nearby, a usual occurrence. And, far too…big and bolshie for Geth. Geth are precise, they're machines and extremely dangerous in large groups. This 'large' group only displayed animal level intelligence….still dangerous but not 'clever' dangerous."

"Interesting…interesting…" The salarian took on a rather intrigued expression, ignoring the two other council members as he tapped his chin with one long finger. "…I've come across several findings by the STG about such creatures and they add up to the samples Shepard and his crew collected. And how exactly did these 'Hyst' act?"

"Screaming Bloody Murder, Sir." Shepard made a face, feeling vaguely glad that at least one of the councillors was a little more forthcoming.

"Ah ha…well all I can say is at least here we have something we can study…not a dream as with Saren. Though I expect this falls outside the council's jurisdiction, this poses a significant threat to council space, the Abyss is rather close…" he said glibly as the Turian opened his mouth to speak. "…seeing the data presented, seeing the site reports that I received as part of this mission brief showed similarities to the STG, I'm willing…mainly due to my own curiosity to the cause, to let the Commander continue."

"That is unprofessional and unallowable." The Turian stuttered before he was silenced by a raised hand from the councillor.

"Alehrius…this is beyond our jurisdiction and far beyond anything we may deal with. To take a stand with the rest of the council arrayed against you is un-wise and…unprofessional to be allowed to occur."

"I am willing to take the risk…even if the council disagrees with me…" Alehrius withdrew into his hood, eyes twinkling as he turned to the Commander "…can you fulfil my expectations and find out exactly what those things were? I am not acting with the council, this completely on your head and mine…"

"I cannot allow this to be discussed on council channels…" the asari snapped, her usually controlled demeanour disappearing in a rather fierce crack of her hands "…Shepard. Continue your investigation for Saren. Do not get involved with the Hyst and do not in the name of the Goddess, go back into the Terminus systems."

She disappeared in a cloud of orange particles, leaving Shepard with a vaguely odd expression written across his features.

"I don't know if that's a win or a loss…" he spoke aloud to the room as he stepped back from the FTL comm. link, sighing as the noise of the ship in flight filtered back into his hearing.

"Don't know, Commander…" Joker's voice rattled back, the eternal eavesdropper ever privy to everyone's secrets "…but first time they've ever cut you off first."

"Yeah…yeah." He dropped backward off the podium, smoothing the skin of his brow before allowing his hand to wander across his unshaven chin, the bristles rough against his fingers. It had been chaos since they'd left, most the ground team were under a great deal of stress. The Hyst, the loss of Muerta and their flight from the Terminus system's with Batarian Ships in hot pursuit and pushed most to their limits, long hours and short breaks had seen double the usual admissions to the med bay. Thankfully with extra help on board in the form of Wynne, it had been coped with. Ashley's ribs were quickly repairing, the medigel packs moulding themselves to the bruised flesh of the soldier's chest.

And Garrus…well. He'd taken the whole affair a little hard. Even if they'd saved the Turian family, Shepard had definitely shown Garrus a rather unpleasant view of his true colours and it showed. Garrus's idealism had taken quite a knock, his quest for 'Hope' as he'd put it, had shown him what 'had' to be done. However, what 'had' to be done had lost a little focus. Shepard pinched the bridge of his nose between finger and thumb, taking in the noise of the rumbling engines, the rattle of the deck plates and the crackle of the comm. link, Joker, as ever, attempting to glean some interesting gossip.

There was the faint smell of clean sterile spaces, Shepard turning on his heel as something shifted behind his head. Tali, her hood casting her face slightly into shadow, rose from her position by the door, her arms folded as Shepard grimaced, gathered up the small pile of data pads by his chair and clanked forward, his face set.

"Commander…I…I…" She stammered before Shepard, his face lined and fatigued paused midstep, his grey eyes snapping down onto the young engineer's face as he made to pass.

"Ah…Tali…" He said after a time "…Um…good to see you up." And that was it, no long worried speech or romantic gestures, just several simple words before he turned away and was gone into the crowded CIC. Tali froze, tugging nervously at her sleeves in the awkward silence that followed. The ship continued to murmur, the noise of the crew at their stations only just filtering into the room through the open door.

"Wow…" Joker crackled "…the commander once again demonstrates an excellent grasp of the English language and tact."

"Joker…" Tali swore into the mouthpiece, her fists clenched as the door hissed shut behind her, leaving her to the silence of the comm. room. "…Shut Up!" She made her way to her chair, the edges singed and stained where she'd plucked nervously at its edges at the end of each briefing.

It had been a long year; Shepard was unlike most other's she'd ever met. The pure grit that had made up his soul was enough to push anyone away. But did he really not care? And why did she feel so angry…why did she demand a little more attention then she was receiving already? It was confusing at best, Tali slowly sinking back into her seat as memories stirred.

In that Alley, he'd cut through the small group of assassins with limited fuss. He'd been on fire and extremely pissed off, those furious grey eyes burning through the dying Turian assassins that lay at his feet. He'd grunted at Tali, impassive, unfriendly, his rifle slotting down across his back while the burly Krogan and the pale faced human male who followed him looked on with hard expressions.

He'd saved her life many times before, the flash of his omni tool on the walls of the mine, the Husks which had once been the researchers shrieking as electrical fire engulfed their bodies. He'd been there, striding amongst the flames, snarling with pure fury as he dragged her from the blaze, the slight flash of something more then the usual impassive expression etched across his features. A slight softness…

But his face had been hard when he emptied his pistol into the Krogan's head on Therum.

Something clattered from the chair, Tali realising she'd been sitting on a small flat object which at one point had been wedged in one of the plastic folds of the chair's padding. She bent low, her long fingers digging into the metal around the chair's base. A small holo-projector met her fingers, the small flat disc pinched between finger and thumb raising up to her eye level. It was a simple flat disc; no inscriptions marked its silvery surface, only a small metal stud, the activation key.

It had been on her chair, which was odd, Tali never carried the holos with her, so it couldn't have dropped from her pocket. The stud snapped in as she let one finger gently brush its exterior and set the pad whirring as the mesh base fizzled before in a cloud of white particles, a large white ship flickered into view. On its small silver projector, the Rivendell slowly twirled before her eyes. Its intricate design was lovingly displayed on the single pad, every little detail clear to see as Tali, her breath catching her throat; looked up from the holographic ship, a slow feeling of joy playing round her form as in cupped hands, the holo still twirled. Her gaze lingered on the closed door to the packed CIC beyond, the noise dimming slightly before she cast her mind elsewhere, stowing the holo into a side pocket and made to rise.

Several Machines need her attention and she had a small spot she wished to place the holo before their next destination, wherever that was.

On the other-side of the door, Shepard, his arms full of data pads; lent against the door's metal surface with a sigh, his face hard to read. It was the clatter of movement inside that stirred his burly form as with a shake of his head, he tightened his grip on the pads and strode away, his goals and his drive known only to himself.

A small bit of whimsy didn't hurt.

* * *

_A/N Really grateful for any reviews, i absolutely love hearing what you guys have to say. And Inverness, you have a point. The Implants are extremely important... And he's not that mad, more loveably eccentric, there will be point where his past is explored, i hate 2D OCs. _


	16. Book 2: The Universal

_A/N Vaguely more serious the usual. Builds on the characters though the 'talking' sections are now coming to an end. From here its quite a bit of action, specially the next five chapters. Anyway, enjoy. Here, a threat makes itself know, implications unknown, Wynne finds himself in need, Shepard shows increasing affection for his pot plant and several startling revelations occur when the second by is taken apart. Enjoy and please review!_

* * *

Tortuga burned under the darkened sky, the plumes of smoke rising ever upward into the atmosphere, the clouds buffeted by the vast air streams which criss-crossed the world's surface. Some said that the smoke would be across the entire world within the week, the streams carry the smoke and debris far and wide. Some also spoke of dark things moving midst the rubble, some telling tales of the many towns and villages that had gone dark since Muerta vanished into that maelstrom.

In the peerless black of the abyss, however, things were calm. The relay was forever glowing midst the stars, the many space stations which surrounded Tortuga glittering with hundreds of lights as their inhabitants stared down at the world below…and wondered.

The cruiser applied its reverse thrusters as it entered high atmosphere, the fires playing across its amphibian design lighting up the blue and white paint work which covered from the bulbous 'head' of the craft to the fluted wing ends. It was descending rapidly, white vapour casting white streams behind it as it dropped.

It was gone into the cloud layer, the shape merging with the black smoke to be lost midst the smog which obscured any views of Muerta. But it was not alone, stealing from the dark, running lights blinking, more of the odd ships snapped out of FTL, their engine ports glowing with heat discharge. Their drive cores, having been used for a great period of time were causing electricity to arc across the paint work, the noisy crackle lost to the vast nothingness of space. To hear wasn't possible, the people within the space stations watching with wonder as the ships docked, their lights illuminating the stations in octane colours as their pilots, unseen within windowless cockpits, slowly guided the ships in.

Draroff let his hand drop to his pistol as the airlock chimed. The large batarian, dull brown fatigues stained in oil and element zero markings, was not exactly pleased, his four eyes narrowing fiercely. This was his station, his job…any one wishing to dispute that was going to be receiving the business end of his pistol and what ever heated death followed. Things had gone to hell ever since Muerta had gone dark, the ripple of drive discharge occasionally lighting the clouds spoke of a ruptured drive core somewhere below the storm. So attempting to go down to the township, Draroff's favourite destination with any scrap they managed to scavenge from low orbit, was out of the question…he'd known good people down there, worry was only part of the mixed bag of feelings he currently bore…not that he was going to tell anyone that. Draroff liked reputation, reputation saved credits, reputation earned credits too…if you leaned on the right people. But as the door opened, he let his 'reputation' slide from his face like oil off a metal plate.

"Raise your hand…!" was the command, the snap of syllables and the weight placed upon its word, the sentence more flicked from the salarian's mouth as he exited the small entrance pod, his gun trained rather unwaveringly at the batarian's head. It was so 'flicked' that even the exclamation mark was audible, the white armour and the black faceplate of the short salarian. There were others too, the stench of ozone flowing quite freely in the station boss's nostrils, evidence of the many kinetic barriers which entered the room, the very air flickering as more salarians spilled forth. Some carried battle rifles, others carried simple pistols, omni tools glowing from clenched fingers. Some stayed at the back, obviously scanning for something, omni tools glowing fiercely as tech modules worked overtime, processing data. "…raise your hand or be shot…we'll raise it for you…not good…chances…" the hidden face must have been smirking at that point, Draroff was vaguely taken aback by the rapid invasion of the small, white clad aliens. They had the small crew that covered the door way completely surrounded; the speed of the assault had definitely put him and his five strong squad at a disadvantage having burned through the security VIs in a matter of seconds. Escape routes were covered, entrance to the ship beyond was covered…Draroff cast around, his mind quickly snapping from issue to issue. Exotic array of weapons, heavily reinforced kinetic barriers…he could see the booster packs which were slotted into the small squad's belts as they spilled from the doorway. They had quite a few mods too, inferno rounds registered for a second as he spotted several red glowing holograms running up the side of the many weapons they carried. "…chances slim…I ask again…hand…now."

"Who the hell…" Draroff didn't have time to think…or finish his sentence as the single superheated mass round passed through his head and splattered his brain across the walls. The salarian, ignoring the cries of panic from the rest of the small squad, snapped the pistol down the batarian's body with lightning speed.

"No time…infection spreads quickly…" he snapped a finger to the side of his helmet. "…Captain Enoch…no visible parasite strains present…body showing little evidence of Legacy alteration."

"Understood…" the quick, sharp tones which replied were a little slower, the salarian allowing his eyes to wander across the dead body. The voice was gravelly, hoarse and worn, speaking of many a year, the fatigue audible in each word. "…check the body for trace material related to Thralldom."

"Sir…" the salarian stooped, discharging a needle into the body from a small bracer, several holographs flashing before his eyes. Rapidly, he activated his omni tool, the screens flashing green before returning the finger to the side of his ear. "…nothing…no base layer parasite matter detected…bodies clean…right to assume that others are also?" he eyed the wide eyed crew under the watchful gaze of the salarian squad. A mixture of Turians and Batarians, they all bore the same forlorn expression, their weapons forgotten. There would be a hundred more on board this station, their lives dependent on the station and the planet below…the one that burned and changed.

"Initiate a Purge…"

"Sir?"

"Initiate a Purge…no witnesses…no risk of infection…must cut parasite off at its source…burn everything; destroy platforms…people…too many loose ends. Legacy must not be allowed to gain a foothold."

"Sir." The link closed with a snap. The single soldier took a deep breath, clasping his pistol in two hands and raised his eyes to the others.

On the other platforms, gunfire rattled through the corridors, people burning into ash as blood, bubbling under the heat produced by the rifles, slowly ran down the walls. The walls were lit with the dull red flares of rifles, the flash of omni tools, the enclosed spaces filled with the screams of the dying and the chaos and confusion of combat. Every station blinked out and as the ships drifted away, their anchors retracting, each station tore itself to pieces, debris scattered into the upper atmosphere. And below…through the dark clouds…blue lightning was tearing through the clouds, the flickering blue of explosive shockwaves pushing the clouds away, dark wisps of smog been torn into none existence. Muerta burned once again, the cleansing flame burning through the blackened heart of that town. And those still alive and untouched by the monster who'd wandered the streets up to this point; screamed as the blue fire tore through the streets, disintegrating anything it touched.

* * *

The stars on the vestiges of Citadel space caught the glimmering, dust speckled hull of the Normandy as it sped on, the engine thrusters glowing a burning blue while running lights blinked on and off along the curving length of the hull. It was still speckled with Mass Transit discharge, wisps of a virulent blue material were scattered behind, caught in the mass fields produced by the ship, a large myriad peacock's tail of sparks.

The Running lights flashed, the rapid flicker of white and green brightening before blinking out, the pattern constantly changing. The ship, however, didn't change, the flight panels un-moving as perfectly balanced, the Normandy was running at full capacity. Well, not quite…there was a one percent unaccounted for…

There was a puff of black material, carbon from the exhaust ducts before in a pale purple blur, a dead Pyjack was ejected forcefully from one of the exhausts. In his seat, Joker grinned widely as the engine readouts jumped back up to full.

"So why me…?" Wynne glanced across at the single holographic screen that hovered before his eyes, trading a glance with the single blue asari that stared back. "…why exactly did you demand my attention on this matter? I'm not exactly police material…" he withdrew a scalpel from his work, adjusted the second holographic screen above his head with a twitch of his fingers and turned back to the first screen "…most of you want to arrest me at the moment."

"Previous concerns aside, your attention was requested by one of our officers…" was the glib response, the featureless brow of the rather plain asari police officer creasing "…who also happens to be dead so I would prefer it if you didn't act in such a way and let me finish. It was requested, from the audio logs taken from her computer, that these are forwarded to you."

"Still, I do wonder, why me? But there's no point arguing in a funeral home…" Wynne sighed, scratching at the side of his head with the scalpel, biting his lip as the second diagnostic screen flashed red "…so go on, why the personal address?"

"Styxchis was working on a rather 'secret project', of which the contents were reserved for the higher echelons of police and council control…"

"Oh great…" Wynne grumbled, never taking his eyes off the diagnostic monitor that had gone a rather angry shade of puce "…why is it that I hate it when the words 'Secret Project' are used? Couldn't you people think of a more imaginative name…? A wee bit clichéd don't you think…?" and shrivelled inside his paper suit at the look he was getting "…I guess not."

"Look, just take the data. The only reason I wish to do this in person is that the Detective wrote many great things about you and I wish to…see if she was correct." Her voice caught, Wynne's face softened as the officer pinched the bridge of her nose between finger and thumb, attempting to hide the forlorn look which crept onto her features.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"The Data is here for your inspection, I would recommend haste. If whatever Styx had uncovered is as real as the data suggests, then you have limited time…" The officer's tone took on a hard edge as whatever she was attempting to send began to filter across Wynne's screens. She was obviously hiding her grief behind an iron wall of efficiency, her plain features contorting as she tried to hide the pain that was obviously eating away at her "…she found that things were definitely moving beyond the edge of our control."

"I'll notify the Commander."

"It would be best…"

* * *

The Orchid gurgled within the moisture field, ever encased within the element zero sustained stasis. The green stem of the plant glistened with the droplets from the constant cloud of moisture that surrounded it, the leaves curling outward to better soak up the bright lights of the room. It was a small, modest flower, with a short green stem and a few large blade like leaves. It had a cluster of white flowers which, at this present moment, seemed to be developing a rather odd array of brown markings.

Shepard leant down to the plant, clippers hanging from limp fingers as he rested his chin on the table, gazing imploringly at the plant, his attempt at trimming the thing having gone awry. Not that it needed trimming; the stasis field usually prevented much growth. It wasn't a field separate from time and space, it was a pot plant after all, so that wasn't what it stopped it from growing. Something about Element Zero radiation or something, inhibiting growth which was perfect for onboard starships…a pot plant for a soldier. A Horticulturalist had told him once, a long time ago, but Shepard had long since forgotten, caring little for the lives of plants. Except this, the orchid still sitting within its little field, the petals always open in the constant light of his quarters. A little piece of permanence for Shepard to cling desperately to. Something solid rather than scattering memories, like leaves to the winds. Not that he was afraid of change. As a child, he'd been shown the vast ideas which had come into being while people with large brains led small, academic wars against each other. The aspirations of science were of some interest to Shepard, but, level headed as ever, there were always more important things to deal with than some dusty professor's ideas. So Shepard had his plant, and he was happy with that. He wasn't an idiot, gung-ho soldier, he'd always been the clever one of his small, ship born class, but he didn't want it. Intelligence usually walked hand in hand with loss of logic. Shepard liked logic; it was much easier to deal with.

"What are you doing now…?" he said after a time "…are you supposed to be going brown or is it some kind of horrible disease or something…?" he sighed and rested his clippers on the table top before turning back to the flower "…it would have been easier to get a bonsai at this rate…all you do is sit there and gurgle…not a care in the world while I struggle onward…cleaning you, cutting your leaves…you've got all the water you want, but you keep changing colour…do you want food or something…?"

"Commander." A voice from the door caused Shepard to slam his chin into the table top as he struggled to rise, the clippers bouncing away into some dark corner. The actions that followed were vaguely slapstick, managing to smack his knee into the table edge as he struggled to raise, Alenko covering a smirk with one hand as Shepard sprawled backward.

"Do you ever knock…?" Shepard groaned, his hands gripping the edge of his work station "…I mean…do I have to get a sign installed...saying please knock or go away…or something?"

"Hey…whatever you do in your spare time is no matter to me. If it's talking to your potted plant, then so be it. I just follow and obey….Sir. And you did say your door was always open."

"Ah…" Shepard slumped onto the edge of his bed, looking around for the lost clippers with a rather resigned expression "…was I drunk?"

"Sir?"

"When I said my door was always open?"

"No, you were perfectly sober…it was after Therum, Commander."

"Sober…after a mission? Really…I do that?"

"Yup."

"Anyway, and when exactly did you get so glib or have I just been living in ignorance for the past few years…?" Shepard grimaced as he failed to spot his clippers "…so why exactly do I deserve the honour of your company?"

"Joker requests your attention on the bridge and Wynne wants a word."

"Let them come and find me. Why do I have to troop around to talk to them…?" He cracked his back, signalling for the Lt. to leave with a wave of his hand. "…at this rate you'd be forgiven for thinking I wasn't captain of this ship at all…more general dogsbody…just leave me be…I want my sleep."

"Well, I would assume that Joker would love to come down here and talk to you…he's not exactly fit to walk at this present moment or…well…ever. We don't want to disturb Wynne at the moment…"

"Oh…." Shepard bent to retrieve the clippers after at last spotting them, some distance underneath his bed "…and why is that exactly?"

"He's busy."

"Ah hah…" Shepard said, dropping the clippers onto the table beside his console "…and so am I…in a leadership sense. What exactly warrants my attention?"

"Well, he's got this look on his face."

"Don't tell me you're afraid of our new member."

"Less afraid of him, more of what he's doing if I'm honest…" Kaiden said, his face paling at the thought "…he's got this rather…um…insane…expression."

"And, that's the Doctor for you."

"Well, yeah, but he's got that look while chopping up a corpse. It's rather…unsettling."

* * *

Wynne at this present moment, his scalpel discarded, was wearing an expression of intense concentration, coupled with vague insanity as Kaiden had described. A stylus was sticking from the corner of his mouth, as with light touches, he slowly turned the dead body over, the small biotic field holding it, fizzling as the motors controlling the field's movement slowly moved in open air.

"Well…" he said after a time, his hands dripping with green blood "…that's just maddeningly unhelpful…as usual."

"Biology usually is…" Chakwas took a swig of her coffee, her feet on her desk, a paper spread across her knees "…it would be so nice if there was just a big biological on off switch."

"But where's the fun in that? There's no challenge, no restraints, nothing to hold me back, to allow me to adapt…to learn."

"Have I ever told you how you'd be a psychologist's field day?"

"That would be the fiftieth time now…" Wynne extracted the stylus and activated the diagnostic panel, it flashed red again "…I've been keeping a tally. I thought you'd have got bored by now."

"Just reiterating a point." Chakwas took another long swig. It had been a rather long break period; most of the crew were at their stations so they'd been granted a slight reprieve. It was mainly psychological issues usually cured with sedative, the crew complaining of migraines and sudden nose bleeds. Stress, fear and anger all wandered the halls at this point, the rattling ducts and vibrating deck-plates enough to drive most crazy. But for now, the ailments were no longer present, merely a world weary vibe which emanated through the entire ship.

Wynne, however, seemed completely unfazed, surround by multiple holographs, his haptic display constantly in use by his right elbow, up to his arms in the second dead body's chest.

"So, tell me, what's the difference between the last body we picked up…and this one?" Wynne grimaced, his hands now slick with green blood as dumped several destroyed organs into a kidney dish.

"Well, it's green…" Chakwas raised an eyebrow, dumping her paper and rising to her feet "…internal haemorrhaging perhaps…restraint marks makes this out to be a test subject, major damage to internal organs…"

"Looks as though all haemoglobin has been replaced with chlorophyll, but it's not showing any Hyst mutation…" Wynne sighed, "…high levels of starch in the system, exposure of cells to carbon dioxide shows a reaction extremely similar to photosynthesis occurring…hang on…is that ATP?…no…no…no…can't be…" He cancelled one holographic panel "…with the death of the human…sorry…alien…host, the Hyst is still 'alive' even if all motor functions have been cancelled out…with the destruction of the brain."

"But Chief William's reported that 'shooting them in the head' didn't work. They showed resistance to all physical attacks."

"And Biotic Attacks…" Wynne ran his scalpel along the body's thigh, his brow creasing "…just shredding the things won't work. But this isn't a Hyst…so to speak…" he paused, raising his arms from the body with the air of a university professor. "…it has the markings but not the body of…work…I…think…Hyst come in multiple forms…you have snarling, yammering, animal hell and you have…" he tapped a panel, fingers light in a rather exaggerated typing style "…form…supple body…delicate skin…female appearance…even with the rather unsual skin tone…" he grinned rather inanely "…anyway, enough with aesthetic appearances…through science comes…biology! Yey! By tests taken, on a cellular level…has a massively accelerated regeneration, or at least the entity controlling the Host from within. While the exterior is destroyed, the interior survives and heals itself. It's basically using an organic suit of armour, even with blatant disregard for the well being of the host body, seeing the rather patchy state they were in on Tortuga. And this one was killed from the inside…Hmmm…strange…"

"David? What've you got?"

"Muscle growth, heavily adapted levels of adenosine triphosphate, sunlight seems to increase their levels…sunlight increases the speed of ATP production meaning that…reaction and muscle power is vastly increased. Several nodules in the thigh show definite changes. There…are…still…myoblasts in here."

"But they usually stay within the vertebrae during development…" Chakwas cast her mind back to her rather moth-eaten medical dictionary, a book stubbornly still printed on paper just to annoy those who had no time to go the gym. A book which still plagued her to this day, the way it sat accusingly on the shelf, now a rather annoying bookend.

"It's almost as if the body is still new, the myoblasts are spread out throughout the body to assist with muscle growth…."

"And improve agility even if strength is sacrificed."

Wynne took a step back, face paling visibly as several diagnostic panels flash red. "…if its only in development stages now, the organs having failed to keep up with accelerated development, dying off as body rapidly mutated…I'd say, its only 5 weeks old…"

"You what!"

There was a choral note, Wynne inclining his head as the data stream he'd been downloading completed.

"We'll put that on ice for now…" he withdrew his hands from the body, reaching for the washbowl at his back "…Play File." discarding his gloves with a quick flourish as he dragged the single holographic screen down to eye level, cancelling the others with a snap of his fingers. The projectors whirred off, leaving Chakwas with several boiling orange after images as Wynne, tapping away at a small white holographic pad, activated the video file.

"Wynne…" a voice, gratingly loud, echoed through the space, the fear held in each syllable making Chakwas shiver. Wynne remained impassive however, returning the stylus to his mouth with a hard glare. On the screen, the officer, Styxchis stared on with wide eyes. She'd been crying, clawed finger marks running from her eyes down her cheeks. "…I hope you can get the information to the right sources. The STG believe they can cut the problem at the source, but they have no idea what this 'thing' is capable of. There isn't a single creature, as you said, no proper individual entity, it's a hive mind…you were right all along…"

"You've worked on the Hyst before…" Chakwas murmured. Wynne didn't respond, his eyes boring into the picture before him.

"It works on a complex neurological network. The Labs told me the details of it, but I wasn't able to get a correct copy, some ones trying to wipe the system of all possible links from this case to the Hyst. Anyway, It works vaguely like telepathy, it's incapable of being blocked or altered by outside sources. It's a signal produced by the Hyst itself, the bodies of the horde themselves only acting as a means of bouncing the signal. But I found that if the horde size increases, it is unable to fully control each entity resulting in animal behaviour. The smaller the group, the more capable of rationalising and adapting to situations. But it's cruel, even when capable of rationalising, it has no morals or any…I don't know…" she paused, tear filled eyes leaving the screen to glance at the shadows which ran across the wall behind her. "…It knows us, it understands what we are…from what I've found, the Hyst has been watching us develop for hundreds of years, records of previous Hyst appearances usually occur in times of great strife for the galaxy. It's…as if it's using chaos to cover its activities, this thing, the 'Hive Mind', is extremely clever. It's not even using Ships to travel between planets and star systems…it's using some other method of transport…that's why it can't be tracked. It's cold, calculating, efficient and cruel…so cruel. The Hyst seem to be very good at staying just below the radar, hence the reason it has become like the bogeyman to the rest of the Galaxy, just a myth. But it's real, very real and it's getting stronger. People are disappearing; the council are getting very uncomfortable though they keep denying that it ever existed. The STG know, goddess damn them, but they're unwilling to comment or help. They just keep appearing and 'Glassing' planets…"

"Glassing?" Chakwas exchanged a glance with the Pathologist, the man's jaw working.

"Using large Mass Accelerators, they fire from orbit to reduce a target to dust. They're using some kind of super sized inferno mod which turns any sand or particulate matter to a consistency not dissimilar to glass, hence the term 'Glassing'. Looks like the STG don't want any of this getting out to the public."

"If the STG are involved and the Council know…"

"Then this is a whole new can of worms."

"…but there's a source…a way of killing them. Previous reports my officers managed to retrieve during our investigations spoke of a single entity that 'possesses' individual Hyst. It doesn't boost them in anyway, the labs theorise that the Entity is merely a conduit for which the leader to speak through. They call it Legacy…Wynne…they've given the Hive mind a name…a monster named….we can't let it survive. I think…" Styx's balled fists came into view as she pressed her hands to her temples in the semblance of fear "…if you kill 'Legacy', you'll wipe out the entire Hyst construct. It seems so finally balanced…and sounds easy…but its not…"

"It never is…" Wynne grunted.

"…the voice it's…not right…we can't pin point it…" there was a rattle of recorder working in the background as in the cold air of the med bay, a horrible grunting tone tore through the silence.

_**A thousand **__**Tendrils view you as meat...**_

"It's multi-tone…" Wynne scrubbed at his chin "…as if there's more than one entity speaking. It has the same brain but different voice. Could be the hive mind is taking in multiple personalities. That's what the old stories used to say…back when the Hyst were just shadowy figures to scare children."

"…if they were used by the parents to scare kids, I'd wonder if the parents were fit to look after these children…"

"We found a dead STG squad had several recordings on their persons…" Styx raised a data pad to the camera. Wynne winced as bloodied nails came into view "…the captain recorded that Hyst Hive Mind assimilated entire beings into the horde, integrating their minds into the neurological network. From what I can tell, the more beings it consumes, the more knowledge it gains…Legacy seems to gain power through collecting minds…" Styx sunk into shadow, the scars on her skin catching the light as she shivered "…it's learning and evolving. But that's not all…" She activated a hologram, Wynne stirring and raising a data pad up to eye level so he could read the small text running across it.

"…It also seems that the Hyst work through agents, a group of asari with an odd skin discolouration…" the both glanced at the green asari body which lay on the slab "…they seem to work as Thralls, living out near cultist lives who revere 'The Growth by appearances…a few shrines were found in across Nos Astra…I don't know how far the infection has spread, it seems that these Thralls carry a mutagenic fungus which remains in the blood supply. Nothing stands out…but it explains why theres been so little found over the years…" Styx typed several numbers onto an unseen data pad "…if this 'Taint' has spread into Asari space…oh by the Goddess Wynne, I can't track how far this might of spread. You need to watch for two though, their the one's Aisha found…" her voice caught and with a crackle of distortion, the video skipped. What had gone in the lost time was easy to see as Styx returned, her eyes red and tear filled "…The ones who are closely linked to 'Legacy'…there are two…One referred to as Eve…she seems to be an assassin of some kind and the other a Matriach Elana, a once high ranking Asari military official, until she went missing 50 years ago. But that's it, there's little data on the two…For now, all I can supply you with is the Ship Tracking signatures of the last two Hyst vessels we tracked and…well…We managed to capture one…of the Thralls…you know what I'm like with blood, David…thought you'd like the first look…" a picture of a rather mutilated body flashed before their eyes for a split second, Wynne cancelling the image with a wave of his hand "…seems Haemoglobin levels were replaced by…"

"Chlorophyll…" Wynne echoed "…God damn…"

"I've got to try and stop them…I must keep fighting…they took…ah…they took Aisha…I've got to kill her, whatever's left..." the asari shivered, wrapping her bare blue arms round her shoulders "…I found…that the hosts remember and are aware of what they've become. No one deserves that fate…I've got to find her…and give her peace…" She blinked, taking a deep breath through her nostrils as though readying herself for something. Behind her, the consoles continued to whirl, their contents unclear as behind those, the large window looked out onto Illium's landscape, the neon lights playing across the walls.

"…Wynne…" she caught herself "…David…if I fail…find me…"

The image snapped off with a fizzle, leaving Wynne with a single black screen. He bit his lip, pressing the rewind with one finger, the image flickering as each fear filled expression whipped by, Wynne's face never changing expression.

"The power was cut…" He said, eventually pausing the image "...recording was halted mid stream. She had more to say, possibly a clue to continue."

"Who was she…?" Chakwas stared wide eyed at the frozen image, her hand over her mouth as Wynne slowly turned away, seizing a holograph from the air. On it, multiple data streams continued to work, complex programming showing multiple anatomical drawings of Hyst and a single, slim grey figure which erupted from the projectors. "…and what is that?"

"Eve…I may have to forward this to someone, if the Commander permits it. Genetics is a little beyond my field of work…and this seems to be a solely biological entity. The age of this creature…" he waved his hand at the dead body on the table beside them "…I think it would be wise to widen our field to the possibility to cloning. Especially seeing the resemblance to Lab Grown Krogan Shepard keeps coming across."

"Lab Grown Asari…are you sure?"

"Well, they're making these for some purpose, even if this one was a failure. Subject was unable to cope with the adaptations, even after 'birth', and I use that term loosely."

"Wynne…" Chakwas said, seizing his arm in one movement "…who was she…?"

"Off! Get Off!" Wynne paled visibly, wrenching from Chakwas' grip as if stung, scattering his equipment with one nervous hand. Chakwas, withdrew her hand rapidly as Wynne pressed himself up against the table behind him, trying to get as much room as possible, looking vaguely panicked. They stood for a while in the close space, Wynne's breaths rasping in the silence, knuckles pale as his hands wrapped around the table behind him. Chakwas, her expression concerned, slowly stooped gathering up the several silvery instruments which had fallen to the floor, their steam cleaned surfaces catching the light and sending shimmering patterns across the walls.

"Sorry…Sorry…I forgot about the whole touching thing…" Chakwas raised a hand imploringly after dumping the equipment into a wash bowl, Wynne's breaths steadying as he let go of the table "…I thought you'd have solved that by now."

"Just…just…don't come any closer…for now…thank you…" Wynne took one deep quavering breath "…we worked together, Styxchis was studying possible mutagens being released into the air across Nos Astra, several bizarre murders led her to the Hyst...but they weren't call Hyst then, hence why I haven't mentioned this before…She could never let it go, even if the Asari police wouldn't listen to her. Her mother had a little more clout however, so they humoured her for a time…" Wynne sagged, dropping into Chakwas' discarded chair "…she was so full of life, only three hundred years old. Spent some time as a Merc before that, lived mostly in Omega so was pretty good at her job…knew where to look. The Hunt for the Hyst consumed her life though…and now it seems the Hyst consumed her…" he looked on impassively as the door into the Mess whirred open, the Commander stepping into the cold interior of the med bay "…and I'm sure we'll be seeing her again…or at least …what's left of her…" he nodded in greeting to Shepard, the Commander letting his grey eyes flick from the dead body, the impassive pathologist and Chakwas, her hands still dripping with green blood. "…Commander…what can I do for you?"

"You wanted to see me…hell…I would've hoped you'd of come and see me by now, it is my ship…" Shepard made a face "…but then the usual insanity is occurring so of course…I've got to come and see you instead."

"You armed…?" Wynne said, lips barely moving, staring intently at the holographic screen which was slowly loading before his eyes. Shepard shook his head, looking vaguely perturbed as Wynne sighed. "…there was once when no one dared approach me without been heavily armed. Can't seem to quite command that kind of thing anymore."

"Um…" Shepard raised an eyebrow "…that must be a real….ah…shame."

"Anyway…" Wynne allowed the screen to load, fingers running across its surface as beside him, Chakwas slid the body from the work station, the maw of the freezer at its head rising up to take in the strange green form. Multiple lacerations covered its body, some from where Wynne had entered, others, less neat then the Doctor's work seemed to hint at some past fight. "…Shepard…" he activated the image, a large white globe flashing before their eyes as a planet began to rotate before them. Wynne grimaced as the image distorted, one hand turning a small holographic dial to sharpen the projection.

"That ship you were hunting for…the one that left Muerta…I have co-rodinates…sent by a security officer…where are they…you were never good at programming were you" he grinned rather widely at some past memory before raising his eyes to Shepard. "…I've…we've found it."


	17. Book 2: Paranoid Android

A/N Thanks to my Beta Reader.

* * *

The howl of the winds which buffeted at the Normandy's white flanks filled the cockpit with noise, Joker's gritted teeth causing his muscles to tighten around his mouth. Beneath the beard, he was pale, hands playing across the consoles as the winds plucked at every crevice in the Normandy's hull. Usually, flying in such conditions would be fine, but the gigantic energy readings they'd picked up radiating from the planet outside was playing hell with the Mass generators, energy spikes causing the exterior hull to sparkle with more then ice crystals.

Not that they could see the planet outside, Joker dispelling a warning light with a flick of his finger. Menith's actual surface was lost to all but the exterior sensors and even they were struggling in the winds. Out beyond the portals, Menith was a vast snowy ice world, the land covered by a permanent sheet of ice, many miles thick. Some said that the planet's core had stopped turning, but its closeness to the central sun of the Hastings system had once dispelled that theory. If a core stopped spinning it usually resulted in large amounts of solar radiation, reducing such a moon to a Mars like state. Most would have expected Menith to have burnt away by now; instead it had become a frozen ball, constantly orbiting that single white sun, no use to anyone.

Not even the Quarians came here, no colonies had ever been attempted to be set up and no race planted any rights of ownership. Menith merely remained an unclaimed, desolate rock, with little use to anyone. If they'd looked, some may have found something, but the hulks hanging in orbit around the planet and the frozen bodies they'd spotted as the ship had come down were evident that any past attempts had gone badly…

"Exterior winds increasing…" Joker thumbed the intercom "…Adams…can you see if you can compensate for the cross winds?"

"Doing the best we can…" Adams' grating voice echoed back, the whirr and click of engine diagnostics filling the busy air at each pause. Higgins could be heard swearing in the background "…Oscillators and capacitors are working fine, we're not going to blow a coil, so you'll be alright…" there was brief rattle "…just keep the pressure off the primary buffer panel and we'll be fine. We're off setting the burn through though, try and push more power to the reverse thrusters."

"Yeah. I know…." Joker grimaced "…can you do anything to the Kinetic Barriers, see if we can get some cover while we drop the Commander off?"

"We do that, we'll over balance…any power diverted will drain something else. At this moment in time…that would make this landing very interesting."

"Okay…" Joker let Pressly sink into the seat beside him, Crewman's Phillips own grunted attempt at conversation sounding in his ears "…define interesting."

* * *

"Explode…!" Wrex swore, wrapping his hands round one landing strut, Ashley grimacing as the deck bucked, her locker bouncing upward as the holdings broke free "…but I don't wanna explode!"

"No one's going to explode…" Shepard slotted his visor into place, the lift door closing as the hold sealed itself, readying the ship for the atmosphere outside "…I trust Joker enough to know that he'll land us ok."

"It's not the landing I'm worrying about…" Garrus crackled, his helmet sliding into place as his own, hastily modified comm. link whirred into action, the usually clear Turian channel struggling to cope with Alliance frequency. "…I'm sure we'll do so most definitely. More…what we'll do after landing."

"Not happy putting my life in the hands of a cripple, Shepard!" Wrex grumbled as warning lights flashed briefly across the ceiling. Shepard made a face while behind him, Kaiden let his omni tool fall, a tiny rectangle of plastic sliding into the bracket on the palm of his hand.

"….like on fire or exploding…" Garrus finished, quietly in the background.

"He can fly with his hands, thank-you-very-much…" Shepard responded, lugging his rifle onto the slot in his back "…don't criticise him too much, remember the amount of scrapes he's pulled you out of."

"I don't rely on past history…" Wrex crackled back "…present is more reliable. I don't see history rushing up to stab me in the back."

"I don't know…" Shepard keyed several symbols on his own omni tool, eyes under-lit by the virulent glow "…past history does have a rather nasty habit of reappearing when you really don't want it to."

"Yeah…" Ashley at last slid her locker closed. Her face still bore the marks of Muerta, the glass had scoured her cheeks and left pale stripes of skin across her face. They could fix it with standard cosmetic regeneration units. Ashley however preferred the new look, the scars appearing to be even more rakish to the soldier. "…I mean…look at Anderson."

"I'd not mention that again, if I were you…" Shepard responded"…bit of a sore subject."

"Massive 'I told you so' to the Council though." Kaiden muttered from the back. Shepard turned to fix him with a flat glare, grey eyes sparkling from behind his visor.

"What the hell has gotten into you over the past week? You're supposed to be the quiet, moral one!"

"Got hard appearing good all the time. Got boring..." Kaiden grinned rather widely behind the skull like face plate. "…you're rubbing off on me Commander."

"Have I ever told you how much I hate you sometimes, Kaiden?"

"On many occasions, sir."

"I hate to break up the lovely conversation…" Joker's voice echoed through the warbling speakers. "…but we're quite close to the ground if you want to get out…I think."

"I think…?" Ashley grimaced "…I hate that guy."

"Look…" Joker had obviously been listening "…I can tell you we're either a metre from the floor or we're a hundred metres from the ground and the short drop gets a little more problematic. It's not an exact science seeing as the weather's whitewashing all the sensor arrays."

"Not an exact science…!" Shepard clapped his hand over his eyes, eyes scrunching closed behind his visor "…Joker!"

"He's going to kill us this time…" Ashley checked her sleeves, checking the exterior plates were locked in place "…he's actually going to kill us this time. We've pissed him off and now we're all going to die."

"Hundred to one metre…" Shepard activated his suit, the HUD flickering into life before his eyes. Across his chest, the grey suit was whirring to life, several LED lights flashing on as servo motors whined. Before his eyes, aiming software was running past his vision, diagnostics flashing to life. Around him, the others were running through theirs too, eyes closed behind their visors as they ignored the mindrendingly rapid flow of numbers. Liara wasn't with them; she'd been restricted to the Doctor's quarters. Wynne too had stayed behind rather reluctantly when Shepard refused him access to the hold with words; 'This is a military operation'. He'd ignored the blustered argument which had followed, pointing out that they had no spare hard suits. Which had been odd, seeing as the ship's small contingent of security personnel weren't exactly needed and they were all suited up constantly.

Tali was there, having finally stepped forth from the engine room. The new suit gleamed, its tightness was clear to see, the mild discomfort she showed was clear as she walked. Perhaps the burns were getting to her…perhaps the suit was a little too tight. She'd added extra armour to its exterior since the last time he'd seen her up, several thick plates attached to the shoulders and greaves. Extra tubing ran to the mask too, new rebreathing apparatus built into the curve of her back.

She stood at the back, newly reinforced mask hiding the rather perturbed expression. The visor had taken on an even more opaque tint, her eyes barely visible behind the thick glass. She was shifting from one foot to the other, her own locker sliding closed beside her as the shotgun was snapped into position on her back.

"One Hundred Metres…" Shepard repeated, clapping his hands to get some blood into them. "…or one metre…Garrus!"

"Shepard."

"Take the Mako out now."

"What…!" the Turian did a double take, his mandibles flaring behind his own visor "…what…now!"

"What? You've got jump jets, use them."

"You've got to be kidding."

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

"Well…" Garrus shifted, glancing at the hold door "…can't really tell with you humans."

The doors of the hold rolled open with the crack of ice, the build up of material on the hull struggling to stay as one as the doors lowered. The hold was filled with the freezing bite in the air, the gale tearing through the packing crates, Ashley's work station becoming quickly covered in a sheet of inch thick ice. The speed of the cold was scarily rapid; the fern like patterns of frost were spreading across the walls at around a metre per second. Shepard could feel the Hardsuit struggling to cope with the temperature, his thermal compensators whirring into life as several tubes spread across his back began to glow a dull orange.

Joker had been right, it was impossible to see anything outside, the white of snow blanked out any easily visible features just leaving a white glare much like staring at a blank sheet of paper. Whether they were close to the ground, Shepard had no idea. Neither had Garrus as he pushed the Mako forward, the newly repaired rover sinking down onto its wheels as its nose was pushed down by the sheer pressure of the wind.

"Right…here goes…" Garrus leant back in his seat as the Mako pitched forward and down, the nose disappearing as with a yell, the back wheels plummeted out of view leaving Shepard with a lasting view of the rather desperate flares of blue as the jets were fired.

Wheels met ice and the snow surrounded the white mako with a vast whirling eddy, unable to push through the large metal object which now blocked its passage. Garrus activated his comm. bead and sunk further into his seat, talon resting by his ear.

"Looks like three metres. Can't see anything else out there though. Shepard…" Garrus groaned, struggling to control the shaking hands "…I hate you."

"Yeah, not the first squadie to say that…Ok…" Shepard snapped his finger down from his ear "…we're looking at visibility around two metres."

"Oh…" Ashley mouthed, Wrex shaking his head as Shepard turned to the open door "…fun."

"It'll be fine…" Kadien readied his pistol, checking his amp was still covered by a large plastic sheet "…Shepard knows what he's doing."

"I get the mighty big feeling he's playing this by ear." Ashley muttered, each squad member turning toward the open door where Shepard stood, looking out into the blizzard.

Shepard took a very deep breath, his re-breather whirring and clicking before his face. The planet did have an oxygen based atmosphere; however the freezing air at such low levels of temperature was more than capable of freezing all major organs in a matter of seconds than most other planets, not that Shepard was willing to test this 'capability'. Still, this was a new planet and Shepard always liked to savour the moment, the single pause before stepping out onto a world he'd never seen before. It was the air conditioned corridors and metal walls of his childhood which made him appreciate moments such as these.

They all lived, they all strived to survive, very much like him. It was a living thing, the galaxy, but it was just a cell, a tiny point in the vaster scheme of things. He had found his wilderness, his little piece of Paradise. And that silence, behind the howling wind, beyond the ice and snow. He felt his ears twitch as they tried to penetrate the clicking hiss of his rebreather. That silence was his soul. That was the silence that his mind should sound like, not the chaos of the many worlds he'd visited.

The cold suited him, he could admit that. The freezing worlds always had him feeling free even with the near deadly temperatures. Perhaps it was because it reminded him of that vast piece of wilderness he loved. The Black beyond the sky…

So this was it, every planet he'd ever been to, sinking his boots into the dirt or snow, taking a breath of the unknown air and feeling the wind pluck at his armour as he stepped forward. And Menith was the next…

He realised as the squad dug him from the colossal snow drift nearly three hundred metres from the entrance of the Normandy, that savouring such a moment would be a tad difficult.

"What in hell….!" Ashely was yelling into his ear, unable to make herself heard over the wind. There was ice building up on the grey plates of her suit as the wind sent Wrex down onto all floors. Krogan weren't built for aero-dynamic situations, Wrex grimacing as his hump caught the worst of the wind, the large alien staggering forward, desperately trying to reach out and grab something.

Most of the crew were actually doubled up in fits of laughter, the bridge filled with the noise of quietly sniggering officers who filled Shepard's ears with the noise of static. All it had been was one step into the snow, Shepard letting his step slow…then he was gone, not quite gauging the wind was quite that strong.

"God Damn it!"

"We're looking at a wind-speed over one hundred clicks, Commander…" Ashley swore loudly, Shepard at last freeing himself from the snow drift. It was just a horrible, blue whiteness which surrounded them, the crystals of snow caught in the blueish light of the nearby sun. In that strange half-light, it seemed caught between darkness and light, the other squad members mere shadows in the snow with the light cut off by a white wall of ice and snow. Each soldier had a cloud of white crystals trailing behind them as the wind plucked the quickly gathering ice from their armour plates and scattered it behind them.

Even looking up, it was impossible to see the sky, Shepard allowed Ashley to dust him off as the Commander reached for his rifle. This was a completely enclosed world, a constant swirling mass of ice and snow, the entire planet one vast storm. So that would mean, logically, that there would be an eye. Shepard grimaced; Sadly logic and the universe didn't get on very well. Knee Jerk dictated that that would be the case…he eyed the swirling mist, the way the wind buffeted them, the way the ice trailed from his hand into the air. Knee Jerk reaction was currently running for the hills.

"How far till we find the ship's beacon?"

"Matter of hundred metres."

* * *

Tali staggered sideways, her feet sinking deep into the snow, hands scrabbling for purchase as the wind caught her. She was nearly bent double, hands straining to pull herself forward. Each painful metre dragged at her new suit with jagged fingers, trying to topple her already over taxed stance. She fell to her knees, sinking into the snow. It was clear to see each freezing particle which gathered on the exterior of the mask, the mist beyond rapidly cooling as the air filters struggled to cope with the ice which built up on the filter exteriors.

She activated her omni-tool, sinking further down into the snow. She could feel the freezing cold ice building up across her back, her entire being covered in a cold film of sparkling powder. It was a cold featureless land, all she could see was snow and the white wall of ice and wind which swirled by, mere metres before her vision. The Normandy was barely visible, the lights along its nose cone the only evidence that it was still there.

Several odd readings flashed to life across her tool, the diagnostic tool in her belt beeping as the readings flickered. Some were through the roof, far beyond the scale of the device's sensors leaving a vast blob on her readouts which blocked out any other energy readings. Except one, something which wouldn't have been spotted if they'd landed anywhere else; A ship's distress frequency. That massive energy reading, way beyond the omni tool's parameters, was extremely close, though the ice made it impossible to work out what exactly was creating the signal.

Tali rose to her feet, staggering as the wind caught her, her feet snagging in the ice as she ploughed out, the ice building on her hands causing the omni tool to fizzle as the projectors were covered.. It was only a matter of metres away, Tali pushing into the wind. It made sense to try and seek shelter by approaching the ship from the windless side….which Tali expected was where any resistance would occur. This was an unknown enemy; the events that had happened in Muerta were merely grainy images and rambled mission reports from the ground team, not the hard solid evidence Tali needed to truly get a feel for what she was up against. That and…she activated her shotgun…there were no ground team following. Not the greatest example tactical genius.

"Why don't we ever go any where nice…?" Garrus rattled, the comm. link once again struggling "…when was the last time we had shore-leave?"

"White Sands, turquoise sea, palm trees…" Kaiden murmured wistfully.

"That sounds more like retirement LT."

"After this job, I think it's about time…be it a little early."

There was a slight drop in the wind as Tali struggled on, turning into the sudden lull. What erupted from the ice, rearing high above the wind was the vast tail end of the freighter, its tail rising high into the air. In its shadow, Tali sank back, wonderment and fear fighting for attention within her head. It was nose down, the cockpit segment sunk directly into the snow, the cargo bays open leaving containers scattered across the surface, their red exteriors covered in white frost. It stuck up like an accusing finger, its undersides scorched and now covered with an inch thick coating of ice, no lights showing along its length. Nothing moved within its desolate ruin, no lights showed and no power readings were visible. The thrusters were cold; Tali could see the ice which covered them, the vents having cooled after the rather rough landing. It had crashed; the ship stuck at its absurd angle was definitely not an example of 'good landing procedures'. The lack of damage was though, the way the nose cone seemed to be mostly intact and the way there was no wreckage speckled across the ground behind it.

"Spooky…" Tali shivered, activating her comm. unit with one finger as other dark shapes struggled through the storm. "…Shepard…I've found it."

"Trail runs cold…" Garrus whistled within his visor, leaning back to take in the entire ship "…literally."

"Ship took a nose dive from low atmos…" Tali sighed, clenching her fist round one circular holographic module "…it looks like it was crashed like this…on purpose."

"So what…." Shepard crackled back, the Commander yet to appear from the storm "…any ideas what this could mean?"

"It was always written among the pilots who didn't fly as part of the flotilla, when their ships were under attack and there was no hope of survival…" Tali activated the omni tool, widening its scope "…they'd plunge the ship nose down into the planet below…as a reminder to all passing ships of their deaths. It's like a warning, the angle of the ship…the way it's just been…left."

"An expendable commodity…" Pressly crackled, warm within the Normandy's interior. "…the ship was rented, looks as though it was falling apart when it was sold. No records of who sold it, Wynne's contact only gave ship tracking frequencies."

"So…" Wrex rumbled, Shepard gazing out into the storm "…who are we following, Shepard?"

"Not the Quarian…" Shepard activated his omni tool, its light attempting to cut through the snow. He staggered as a stray gust caught him, the burly human sinking deeper into the snow as he attempted to gain a foothold. "…the grey one. Vaguely more of a pressing issue."

"If you ask me, I'd be hunting the one that keeps dropping those bodies…" Ashley grimaced as she struggled to break her grip from the stock of her rifle, her hands coated with ice. They'd left the ship behind now, their footprints being rapidly scrubbed out by the wind. They were spread widely across the snowfield, Wrex, her and Shepard leading "…I mean what kind of sick mind would do that."

"Not a sick mind…" Wynne's well pronounced words replaced any throaty military responses, the doctor having sequestered himself in the small med bay with a coffee and part of the Normandy's comm. unit "…surgical perhaps. Perhaps trying to leave clues though has had to resort to rather macabre measures. Perhaps…" there was a slurp on the other end of the line as Wynne took a swig of his coffee "…Tell me Chief Williams, have you ever read Grimm fairy tales?"

"This is really not the time to be talking about literature."

"There's always time to talk about literature." Wynne retorted, the rattle of a cup being set back down onto a table accompanying his speech

"Once, quite a while back. Not really my kind of thing but Mom used to use them to scare the living day lights out of me." Ashley exchanged a glance with Shepard, the Commander seemingly oblivious to the soldier as he tapped something into his omni tool.

"Well, picture this. Each body is a biological clue, each links to another creating one vast picture. To properly see the picture we need the bodies. Like a trail of bread crumbs. Except that the trail of bread crumbs is a group of clues within themselves."

"That makes absolutely…" Ashley waved Wrex across with one hand as Shepard staggered sideways again, the commander nearly crawling on all fours as the wind howled, the whirling wall of white nearly obscuring him from view. "…No sense….Commander!"

"I'm fine…just fine…" Shepard sank down onto his haunches, trying to decrease his surface area as the wind tore through his armour plates, whistling through the gaps under his arms. "…Pressly…can you get a fix on that energy signature?"

"The ship…the energy signature that we're looking for…" Pressly nodded to Crewman Phillips as she returned to her work station, her blonde hair been slowly tucked back behind each ear "…is being swamped by another reading."

"Exactly, focus all attention on that reading. I want to know what it is and what 'reading' you're getting. I need facts, Pressly. Massive, off the charts readings usually mean something big and on this world…what would require that much energy to run? What exactly is out there Pressly…?" Shepard sank down, head bowed "…Build up of energy means there's a device creating it and the device creating it must be for some purpose…"

* * *

From the cold nothingness of space, the ship was a small silent white dart which dropped from FTL in a cloud of blue fire which boiled away into the black. It didn't pause, the black and white painted hull catching the single white star which hung in the solar centre, its engines glowing a bright blue as it powered forward, making for the single white dot far below. Menith slowly turned on its axis, its storm wracked surface giving it the appearance of white marble, small distortions of grey playing across the peerless white.

The Harlequin ship rolled, letting the human designed prow pitch downwards, the long though solid nose cone catch the light. And on its flat features, a single black hexagonal symbol was painted.

* * *

"Well, whatever it is…it's hard to read. We've got a full capacity on each reading. Even with the sensors on full, it's impossible to sense the scale of this thing."

"Explain why…" Shepard retorted, his patience wearing thin as he leant into the storm. "…why exactly is this so hard to read?"

"Well first it's the weather…" Phillips raised a single holographic sheet to Pressly within the Normandy's warm interior. "…secondly… it's off the charts."

"Off the charts?"

"Off the godamn charts! We've got energy cascades on a rising scale…" Pressly activated the holograph with one finger, the graphs flaring to life before his eyes "…looks as though something's charging up."

"Oh great…" Kaiden swore as several metres in front, Tali disappeared from view, leaving him in the cold, alone. "…why does the word 'doomsday' spring to mind?"

"Urgh, God…" Wynne crackled "…so clichéd."

"Sounds like a normal day." Shepard grumbled, taking a rather deep breath, struggling up to his knees in the snow. Around him, the dark shapes of Wrex and Ashley still staggered on, the two soldiers still ploughing on blindly in the howling gale. Shepard himself was several metres ahead, barely able to stand, hands clawing desperately through the snow.

"There's something ahead!" Tali shrieked over the noise, her scarf tied securely round her neck as Kaiden struggled into view, Garrus bent double beside him.

"Give it up! We've got to get back to the ship…!" Garrus could be heard calling over the wind, the Turian sinking down into the snow with a groan "…this is impossible!"

"It's only a few more hundred metres more!" Shepard was a hunched form in the distance, his shape merely a shadow. They were ploughing directly into the wind now, seemingly climbing a gentle rise which rose just up to their waists. But in the wind, the howling gale, each centimetre hurt, both the soldiers following were nearly on their hands and knees. Wrex roared, being dragged backward by a metre as he rose up, arms wind-milling as he caught the wind. It was plain to see, the gale kicking up hundreds of white fragments from the ground at their feet, the particles blasting past them at an alarming rate to be lost in the wall of white behind them.

"Forget it, Shepard…!" Ashley yelled, her voice lost to the winds "…We've found what we came for! Just give it up! We're not gonna find anything more out here! You're not paying us enough for this!"

She was going to shout more but her voice caught in her throat, surprise and a vague sense of fear tearing away her ability to speak. Beside her, Wrex swore in Krogan, ice cracking around his neck as the servo motors allowed the mask to move, the Krogan craning backward to take in the spectacle beyond as strangely and suddenly, the wind stopped.

* * *

Tali shrieked as she went over, the Quarian tumbling into the snow as she caught her boot on a single hard metal object. The world went upside down, disorientation kicking in as the white whirled around her, hard to tell what was the ground and what was the sky. Tali felt the cold kiss of the snow against the exterior of her suit, the biting frost playing round her finger tips. Always the weakest points, the fingers were usually covered with a metal coating, Tali preferred been able to feel what she was doing, so she'd done without. It made sense, however, that these points would be the first to be compromised.

She snapped the omni tool on, the single weak orange glow of the torch illuminating the white around her. There, sticking from the snow as a single three fingered hand. If it hadn't of been for the metal wiring that hung from its damaged circuits, Tali would have screamed, the similarity between the hands and her own was uncanny. But the metal sleeving was usually evident of a machine, a mechanical being half covered by snow. She could deal with machines, this however…the wind scoured the metal casing clear, revealing the Geth like body beneath. Tali felt her stomach drop…was there no place they hadn't got to…

"Geth…! Here!" Kaiden was first to tumble from the white, his skull like faceplate covered with the fernlike patterns of ice. Tali shook her head; the whirr of the omni tool lost the storm while she slowly panned her hand back and forth, the gauntlet clicking away to itself quite happily.

"No…not geth…I think…" She tapped several sigils on the wrist piece of the gauntlet, a single spiralling loop of hologram sparking into life. "…I'm not picking up any evidence of a neural network…it looks old…really old…ancient…" Garrus appeared, his blue armour picked out in white crystals, the Turian was shivering quite violently, his armour more designed for Palavan temperatures then the four hundred below of Menith. He still bore a rather irked expression, even with the cold, previous events still weighing heavily on his mind. For now, that could wait as Tali continued, her eyes sparkling behind the heavily reinforced visor;

"Looks like Quarian build but showing a lack of similarities to usual Geth build. I mean they've evolved since the 'Morning War'…this seems so simplistic, especially with no volaris Cortex installed. Lack of communication modules…simplistic command and control platform built into a bipedal body…" she rose to her feet, listing problems as she scanned, activating the omni tool with one hand. Tali immediately staggered backward forgetting the wind in a moment of mechanical fervour "…It's a VI! A Quarian VI…diagnostic programmes are still inactive though some stand-by order forced it to stop, rendered the drive cores to shut down…memory cores are still intact however, though they're merely there to keep the VI following the correct set of orders."

"A Pre-Programmed VI…" Garrus crackled, stooping to push the Geth like head to one side with one long talon "…so what? Did it fall from the ship? Or is it just scrap."

"No…Quarian built machine, we don't make such things anymore. Ever since the Geth…Rannoch…" she paused, turning to look on into the storm "…Technophobia…we can't handle something so close to the Geth. They were built in our image and this would be too close."

"So…Tali…" Kaiden chided "…what else?"

"Well, I doubt it came from the ship. This is a collector's item, not something you'd cart around the galaxy. Which means…"

"That's impossible…" Garrus crackled "…there's nothing here. This is an empty world! Even the council says this world is empty..." he stopped, remembering the council's past history. Denial seemed a key instrument within the galactic community. Who knew what horrors Menith may be hiding...

Tali didn't respond, instead dropping to her knees beside the VI droid, her omni tool whirring once again. Badly damaged, the VI could still walk, most of the spinal nodes were still intact while the head piece's sensor arrays were scorched but still operational. Most of the damage, and this was mostly perpetrated by the cold, was the within the chest piece. The batteries and hard-drives were covered in a thick layer of frost, the chest piece open to the elements. Tali knew this would be a bad idea as she touched the heat tab to the interior, her omni tool glowing a bright orange. But as Shepard always said, risks would always have to be taken. It's the first step which truly counts, not the means to an end. That single moment when someone must decide the path they must take…

The ice was receding, snow rapidly turning to water as the tool ran across it, the water slowly dripping free to be immediately frozen as soon as it left the tab's aura. Tali, glanced up, Kaiden was still watching, his pistol readied as he watched, expecting the worst. Garrus was stooped, his arms hugged around his rifle, staring out into the storm.

There was a rattling croak, the VI's interior beginning to glow a bright blue as fingers cracked. Ice broke, snow been pushed aside as a second, unseen hand was raised from the white covering. The single head light, disturbingly similar to a Geth Head Piece snapped on, the neck whirring round to glare at each of the soldiers who watch. Tali hurriedly snapped the chest piece closed, the two plates coming together with a clang, her eyes narrowing behind the mask, hands reaching for the shotgun. There was the vague chance of being wrong, the odds were always stacked against them; this might not be a VI, it could be a Geth…a very clever Geth on its own. Tali didn't know if that was possible, a single platform operating correctly outside the collective.

Though as Shepard always commented, no one truly knew how far the Geth had evolved….Tali suddenly felt this was a bad idea as the whirlwind of discontent pulled itself into being within her chest, her heart rate quickening as with tight fingers, she pulled the shotgun from its holster.

"Bad bad bad bad bad…" Kaiden swore as the thing slowly rose to its feet, joints cracking after years of stillness. "…getting a real bad feeling about this."

"Put it down before it has chance…" Garrus crackled, sniper rifle sight sending a single red dot roving across the thing's chest as it warbled, drivers whining as ice slowly dribbled from its insides.

**Unit seven five seven….**

An odd warbling tone erupted from within its headpiece, its single eye piece twirling in its socket as if in deep thought.

…**Unit seven five seven…****Designated Three Four Three Penitent Tangent. Unit Drivers functioning…Memory Drivers Running…Online…Online…attempting to connect to primary main frame…**

There was an odd clicking sound, Tali exchanging a glance with Kaiden as they stole backward, trying their best to find cover in the featureless landscape.

…**Unable to connect with primary Mainframe…Resuming preset task.**

"It's a VI…It's a VI…!" Tali immediately lowered her shotgun, Kaiden following suit, though slower, his pistol wavering as it looked over at the pair, ignorant of the Turian's shadow as he sank into a snow drift, his sniper rifle whipping up. "…Weapons down!"

…**Scanning for Flotilla call signs…Scanning…Scanning…**

Its head snapped up as Tali approached, her hands raised imploringly, palms empty.

**Quarian Life Sign Detected…attempting to Verify…**

It crackled, drivers screaming into life as it illuminated the Quarian's face with a single blast of light.

**Please state Flotilla Call-Sign; Verify.**

"Ah…what?"

**Please State Flotilla Call-Sign or be purged by Code Name****….**_**beep beep beep**_**… Sentinel…" **

"Don't like the sound of that purging…Tali…say something nice…" Garrus crackled warningly.

"Call Sign! I don't know the call signs…" Tali yelled, struggling to stay on her feet as the wind caught her. "…they didn't give me any numbers or codes!"

"I don't care what they say…!" Kaiden yelped, raising his pistol up once again to track the VI's head as it quested from side to side "…give the quarians a chance they say, get them to be organised, they'll cope they say…argh…!" Kaiden's right arm burned a virulent blue as his biotic potential stirred "…you can't even give out codes! You guys suck and now we're going to be killed by a Geth with no brain!"

"It's just one Geth…"

"Hello…name stinks of ambiguity! Sentinel!" Garrus's grasp of human languages showed through, his faceplate dropping down to give him a clear view through the rifle's sight.

"Sounds like…" Kaiden made a face "…giant robot."

"Oh great…" Garrus managed, the VI watching them intently "…eviscerated by giant robot. Just how I like to spend a day."

"…shot…on fire…melted…electrocuted…"

"Alright…don't ruin all my hopes at surviving."

"Tali! Haven't you got something you can…you know…calm it down a bit."

"Ah…"

**Verify…****Call-Sign…chances of survival…33 point 32 recurring…**

"Argh….um…" Tali cast her mind back, the last ever thing that linked her to the fleet…the words which had remained with her since the air lock had closed before her father, the last views of the flotilla haunting her memories…perhaps…she paused, her lips forming the words as she fixed the VI with one hard glare, defiant in the spotlight "…After time adrift among open stars along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began."

The light snapped off, the VI staring intently and impassively at the purple faceplate suspended before it. Tali let her breath slow as with a click, the warbled speech started again.

**You are recognised as Tali'Zora Nar Rayya…**

"It recognises you?" Garrus muttered, as if trying not to interrupt the machine's verbal attempts at processing.

"It must have some links to fleet databases, though the 'Primary' Mainframe must be something down here with us…" she met the odd look Kaiden was giving her with a rather gimleted stare "…believe it or not, our history keeping is immaculate…even if our maths is a bit…patchy."

**Quarian population plus one…**there was a vague fizzling noise **…Quarian Population stands at…one...Fleet Vessels…Zero…None Fleet Vessels…Two Recorded…Accessing Data Banks…Connection severed…Fleet Marines Squad level stands at…Zero…Warning…Warning….**

Tali let the VI step forward, the ice whirling as the small squad each lent forward, trying to counter the wind which still blew ferociously around them. The words were chilling. Tali hoped that the Quarian population had left, gone in the ships and left the VI behind, a reminder to the rest of the galaxy that they'd been there. But seeing how the galaxy worked…she doubted they'd ever left…the VI was more a warning.

**Science Team designate Quarantine required after Highly adaptive Pathogen detected in ****blood streams in organic subjects within during routine clinical testing Vortex station One…Life Signs in Vortex Station twenty five none recognised personnel. Life Signs in Quarantine…Zero…**

It warbled, fixing the group with a hard stare

**Organic Signatures not showing recognisable ****verification…**_**beep beep beep**_**…bearing call sign of Science Team…twenty five…none recognised organic signatures…**

The wind howled as the build up of ice on the exterior of Tali's suit chilled her to the bone. She could hear Shepard shouting in her ear through the comm. link, Kaiden snapping his fingers to his ear as Garrus snarled, raising his rifle to look for some kind of target. Nothing presented itself and Turian turned back swearing as the most chilling words ever uttered cut through the engineer.

**None Recognised Organic signature****s count at…One Million…You are requested…**_**beep beep beep…**_**to ****Run.**

**

* * *

**

A/N Paranoid Android is referring to a song by Radiohead not Hitch Hiker's guide to the galaxy (Great Book though). You may of noticed that most of the chapter titles are songs from Gorillaz, Radiohead and Blur. It means that each chapter title gives nothing away, no clue is given to what happens within. Anyway, sorry for the cliffhanger, i just love leaving you lot hanging :P. Hope you're all getting as much enjoyment from this as i'm doing.

Please read and review.

**Tharagon **


	18. Book 2: They Sleep on Stones

A/N: Guess who's back.

* * *

"It's a city…" Shepard breathed, the air misting on the glass of his visor, his grey eyes never leaving the scene which lay before them. Unlike the turmoil of the world beyond the curtain of ice and snow, the wind here barely plucked at his ammo pouches or webbing "…in the ice."

They stood on a vast pinnacle of ice which jutted out across a gigantic, perfectly circular basin. It was a roaring silence that filled the very air as the storm passed like a gigantic water fall on either side. The sheer sided basin itself was a boiling, surging white as the storm was forced down and under the three stone pinnacles which erupted from the storm far below. They were beautifully carved, their shapes putting Shepard in mind of many Prothean ruin he'd come across, their blocky shapes with many straight lines, angular corners. It wasn't just that which held Shepard's attention. Huge spindly bridges ran from the walls of the basin to the towers which rose above the ice. Their ends lost back behind the curtain of ice and snow which blocked any view back towards the Normandy. Even so, their purpose was clear to see, the tubing they all sat on was at least large as the presidium interior; perhaps power cables to supply the station In the direct centre, secured by the spires, three massive rings hung in space, sparkling in the ice and sunlight.

Shepard's mind boggled as he reached for his rifle. There were things moving on the bridges, he could spot several indistinct shapes sprinting toward the towers on the nearest bridge. And in the distance, a large black ship was breaking through the snow. He recognized the symbol printed on its sides as Wrex growled by his elbow. It was breaking rapidly, its engines burning through the ice as it dropped, its troop bays opening. It was aiming for the main tower, its passage stirring the ice and the snow.

"Cerberus…!" Ashley snarled "…what in hell are they doing here!"

"Whatever reason, it can't be good…" Shepard reached for his rifle as he fixed his eyes on the people on the bridge "…Joker! Lets go!"

* * *

**Ship with unknown call sign located. Resuming Designated Task.**

"Wait…!" Tali stumbled, catching herself on a support as Seven Five Seven paused mid stride, the VI warbling as it turned to watch the Cerberus Vessel rumble in. Its troop bays were gaping open as several harlequin soldiers stumbled from the interior, jetpacks roaring into life as they dropped. They were coming down over the next bridge across from them, grapples looking as secure as spider webs whistling down to attach to the metal bridge below.

"Well, that doesn't look good." Garrus crackled.

"We should be waiting for the Commander to catch us up, Tali!" Kaiden panted as he lent up against the walkway support. Far, far below the white surged and boiled; a huge cloud which obscured the base of the towers.

"We can't wait! We're not going to get to the bottom of this if we let Seven Five Seven get to far ahead!"

"This'd better not be because you want to find your science team!" Garrus sighted his sniper rifle at the soldiers. They had dis-attached from the ship and were sprinting off down the walkways. "We can't risk our mission for a failed attempt at curiosity!"

"This is bigger then the flotilla, Garrus! Shepard would've of done the same!"

"Shepard is also in charge!"

"Guys…" Kaiden said levelly, ignoring the patch of rage filled air between the two "…your robot's gone."

"Oh you little bosh'tet!"

* * *

The whistling of the storm was all around the top of the furthest tower. The single grey cloaked figure stood in the shade of a vast statue, her grey mask staring up into the prothean's features. Wires sprouted rather horrifically from its eyes and mouth, its fingers connected with the ground below, its head bowed as if in thought while its hands ran with moisture and tiny blue lights.

The expressionless grey mask ran with moisture as she caressed the sword strapped to the base of her spine, her head tilted back to stare into the statue's eyes. The Ursa type armour she wore glimmered with frost; its exterior covered with scorch marks and damaged armour segments. It wasn't a well looked after suit; the once immaculate exterior had shone. Now it was a dull, featureless grey with little care applied to its maintenance.

"Lady Eve..." Only one of the small group of green asari who occupied the centre of the amphitheatre dared to approach the tall willowy figure as she stood before the tall statue. Unlike the grey armour of the assassin, Mystera wore a thick brown suit, her green features covered with many dark green tattoos which played across her forehead and down round her eyes. The assassin didn't respond, keeping her gaze on the statue, her hands behind her back as if in conversation with the block of stone "…a Cerberus vessel has been sighted coming down over the second, anticlockwise tower…." There was no response, only a brief chitter behind the grey visor "…Also, an Alliance vessel under the Command of Lieutenant Commander Shepard has also landed close to the Vortex Station."

That warranted a response, Eve looking away from the statue with a sigh.

"I don't like repeats…" she rasped "…make the halls silent once again."

She turned back to the statue, her neck cracking as she looked up. She would've returned to her vigil if it wasn't for the slight cough beside her. In the freezing air, the fear of the small group was easy to see. Eve toyed with handle of her sword as the younger asari took a deep, quavering breath.

"Why are we here, Lady Eve? Why did you bring us here? We were requested go back to Crux station, so why did we come to this world?"

"Because." Eve replied. Behind the visor, behind the armour, her green ruined face pitching up; Eve grinned a terrible smile.

* * *

As Cerberus Cells go, this particular cell was one of the more oddly named. For Cerberus 'Those who sleep on Stones' were one of the cells most would rather deny existed. It wasn't because the cell was particularly evil; they didn't exactly do anything which strayed from their path of grey. It was more a matter of honor. The proverbial garbage men of the human race 'Those who sleep on stones' were usually tasked with the removal of problems. They weren't well funded but they were well trained, a rather rag-tag group of mercs with Cerberus armour and insignia.

'Cherry Ghost' was first through the door, skidding to his knees as his rifle panned across the walls, the laser sight running over the white stone and dark marble-like surfaces. The entire interior glittered with hundreds of blue lights and sparkles which were imbedded into the floor at his feet. It was a beautiful space to be in, Ghost allowing the barrel to sink as he took in the spectacle. It was if he was surrounded by hundreds of stars behind panes of glass, the glimmers of white in the black reflecting off his visor as he turned his head.

"I'm reading a lot of damage to the third spire's super-structure..." Stylo whirred as she panned her omni tool across the walls, its weak light not reflecting of the black stone floor. "…minimum power. There's some centered on the furthest tower, limited supply…looks as though they've hooked up a generator."

"Anything on that alliance ship…" 'Ghost' replied gruffly as the commandos filtered in behind. "…and that energy signature."

"Signature is centre in the direct centre of those rings, Captain."

"Right. Find central control centre."

"You sure…" Stylo whispered horridly as they clattered onwards to a round iris portal. It remained closed as they approached "…TIM requested that we retrieve power cells. We're getting a little too entrenched into this mission if we start going after the command centre."

"This is a little more complicated then TIM lets on…" Ghost signaled for another technician to stagger forward holding a large grey pack "…power cells are just a front. And anyway…" he glanced at the woman with a wide grin, hidden behind his visor "…who's going to check up on us. I do feel like a bit of ancient history"

"We really need to start a Union."

"In Cerberus…?" Ghost glanced round at the other man who followed. He had a very large shotgun clenched in thick fingers "…have you been at the rinquol again 'Paranoid'."

"Its Android…and no, I haven't."

"Paranoid."

"Oh c'mon!"

"I'm not changing it now. It was bad enough finding the codenames in the first place."

"All you did was go through your data disk collection. That's not what I call hard work."

Ghost made to speak but found Stylo was nodding in agreement.

"He's got a point, Captain."

There was a fizzle and the door whirred open. Cold, sterile air rushed out, adding to the already freezing atmosphere. 'Ghost' sighed, moving slowly with short deliberate steps, his rifle panning round the door frame, careful of any targets which might off been in the thin corridor they found themselves in. Nothing presented itself, 'Ghost' taking a rather slow breath as behind him, Paranoid checked the walls on his portion.

"Nothing."

"Right, ready…steady…go."

They took a right, the featureless corridor whipping by as they powered onwards. Only the emergency lights illuminated their passage, the lights sensing their presence and taking on a stronger glow. Except for the single orange glow of the omni tool in Stylo's arms, the blue light was their only guide, producing quite a few evil looking barbed shadows.

"Take a right up here."

"Right." Paranoid checked the corridor on the right, the other corridors branching away on either side; all ending in the same blackness. At least the corridor they were following had some light, small round dots floated a few feet from the wall, illuminating the grey rock and grey floor.

"Grav-Orbs. Designed to react to organic signatures. Nothing to worry about."

"Right…" Paranoid checked the shadows with the muzzle of his shotgun "…you do know what they say about not going toward the light."

"Forget that rule." Ghost waved his arm toward the darkness behind him. There were several metallic clicks somewhere in the darkness as things moved. "Beach, Empire. Stay here, I want these routes out kept open."

There was a flash of blue in the darkness. Before anyone could particularly react, a large metal bug much like a old Earth beetle clattered out of the dark and disappeared into a small hole in the wall.

"Well." Ghost said after a short, tense silence "I guess this place is a little more alive then first thought. Miss something did we?" he said the last section to Stylo as she waved he omni tool from side to side, attempting to dislodge some glitch.

"I thought it was just electrical circuits spread which were stand-alone, there were too many to be counted! I thought it must be a glitch or something when we found the power was out!"

"If there's a glitch tell us about it!" Ghost snapped as the others exchanged a glance. "Don't leave us in the dark!"

"Well I'm sorry! You try doing the technical stuff in these situations! Did you read my report!" She stepped forward, bringing her black out visor extremely close to Ghost's own "It said no military training! I'm an archeologist by job and nature! I can't cope with the stress and I can't cope with you!"

"Guys." Paranoid said levelly.

"Well, I didn't chose to take you along now will you please be quiet, I'm trying to make sure no one dies. Which is made a tad difficult when some Asari keeps whining at me!"

"Oh yes that's right! Bring my race into the argument, that's so sensitive, human!"

"Guys."

"Well I'm sorry, you made it so obvious when you waltzed into the barracks wearing a dress which looked as though it'd been stitched together using floss and tissue paper!"

"Guys!"

"What!" Paranoid found himself with two face plates whipping round to meet his gaze, the furious expression behind the visor unclear but the intent very much visible.

"Talking about 'leaving us in the dark' we've got a power surge on its way."

The lights snapped off with a groaning rumble as the grav orbs clattered the floor, unable to stay afloat as the power was sapped from their tiny interiors.

"Oh…" Ghost said as the torches snapped on "…bum. Scatter formation, check your corners, watch the cross fire. Guys…" he nodded to the indistinct shape of Stylo "…no one gets left behind. Here come the tangos."

* * *

The portal broke into three segments and whirred away into the door-frame as Tali approached. Seven five seven paused in the entrance as the airlock door and the iris portal linking to the main building beeped alarmingly.

**You are required to be clear of the doors before airlock procedures can commence.**

"Are you sure this is wise? We have no idea what's beyond that air lock."

"Empty corridors and dead halls probably…" Kaiden murmured, admiring the sparkling walls and pitch dark floor. "…we haven't been attacked yet. It'd pay to be more careful though, I feel as though we're walking into a trap."

"Like a spider in a web…a very, very fat spider…" Garrus let his mandibles widen "…you heard the numbers. One million life-forms. We should be destroying this place from orbit. I've read your books, lots of bad things happening to cats."

"You think its going to be those things from Muerta…" Kaiden looked back at the turian.

"Well, we're following a assassin who seems connected to the muerta attack…so yes. Theres going to be a whole load of…well…" he mouthed several words "…very bad things."

His words were drowned out by a scream of engines. Joker caught the flash of white as the Normandy SR 1 passed over head, its hold door opening.

"Tali, Kaiden…" Shepard crackled over the earpieces as he perched in the Normandy door "…get everyone inside. I'm going to land on the tower and try and work my way down."

"You got it..." Kaiden glanced down at the rather annoyed looking alien. "…you heard the man.

The door whirred shut and with one blustery moment, the iris door opened with a hiss. Tali pushed on through, her shotgun ready as Kaiden activated his omni tool.

"Auxillary power by the look of things. Emergency lighting on and seems to be reacting to our presence…nice."

Seven Five Seven however seemed unaware of any particular danger and whirred as it turned a corner and stalked off down the corridor to the left, its head light remained fixed on something which glimmered in the dark at the end of the corridor.

And there was a smell, a metallic stench in the air which burned the back to Tali's throat as it pushed through her filters.

"Theres something in the air…" Garrus murmured, having not shed his rebreather for fear of breathing in the odd metallic stench "…something's not right here."

They broke into one large chamber, the roof rising away above their heads. Hundreds of grav orbs, like blue fireflys whirred about above their heads, lighting the walls and ceiling in virulent blue shades. Three dropped from the swarm, sinking down to the small squad to better illuminate the group. Tali took one long breath and brushed the single glowing dot with a finger. It fizzled and grew brighter.

"It reacts to an organic presence…" she breathed "…its not interested in Seven Five Seven."

"If they react to organic signatures…" Kaiden whispered "…so why are there so many in here?"

"Maybe it's a hub or charging station. Put into standby when the facility went dark perhaps." Tali shrugged, glancing up once again at the hundreds of orbs.

"I don't think that's it…" Kaiden glanced down "…loss of power would've canceled out the orbs if they were charging; I'm reading no machinery or charging apparatus."

"Oh…" Garrus sighed "...Tali; your machine's gone again."

* * *

Shepard wrapped his hands tighter round the jump handle as he pushed himself out onto the edge of the gangplank, several hundred metres above the spire. The Cerberus ship was still hovering above the next spire along, the three towers set out in a rough circle. The other, the sigma tower as Pressly had labeled it; glittered with many lights. It was also signified with single blue square which hovered before his vision.

"Commander…you've got an incoming message from Councilor Alehrius." Shepard winced as Joker disturbed his concentration.

"What! Now! Give it to Pressly!"

"He wants to speak to you, and now one else…" Joker replied "…he says its important."

"Pressly, Joker…!" there was crackling pop in his ear "…give it to Pressly!"

"Give what to 'Pressly'…" Alehrius questioned as Shepard swore.

"Joker! For God sake…you…"

"Shepard? What exactly is going on?"

"Oh…doesn't matter…" the top of the tower was close now; Shepard could pick out many wrecked weather vanes which covered its frost covered surface. At this angle, he could easily drop onto the tower top without his shins going up into his head. "…just a rather bad moment."

"It is rather important, Commander. Several pieces of research have come to my attention since we last spoke. You will be encountering Hyst again, yes?"

"Maybe…I hope not."

"We have been made aware of a way to kill it. QED…I do hope I phrased that correctly…you need to; if you will 'Kill it with fire'."

"Kill it with Fire."

"Yes."

"Really."

"Yes. I do believe my facts are correct."

"Right."

"Are you fine with that, Commander? Do you understand what I am saying?"

"No…" Shepard levered himself forward gingerly to better see the spire's top "…just admiring the view, that's all."

"Do you have time to be admiring the scenery, Commander?"

"At this point…" Shepard disappeared into the snow, followed by Ashley and Wrex as the stone top whistled up to meet his feet "…it really does matter." He hit the ground hard, his soles aching as he stumbled forward, reaching to catch himself. Aleherius didn't respond as Shepard hunkered down, gripping a stone ledge as the Normandy's engines attempted to push him from the tower top.

"You still on the Comm. Shepard?" Wrex rumbled as they scattered, the Normandy gunning its engines as it pulled away.

"No, looks as though all signal to the outside world just got cut off…" Shepard thumbed the radio pack before pulling it back up into the small of his back. "…Wrex, switch to Incendary Rounds. Ash…check your targets; watch your corners, I want you on Assault rifle bringing up the rear…" he waved at a nearby hatch "…Wrex."

"Shepard?"

"You first."

* * *

Eve drew the sword, letting the light play across its surface. She took one gurgling breath, taking to the stage in the centre of the amphitheatre. Around her, the other Asari stood ready, their weapons raised, their forms poised.

"Raise the Vortex…" She gurgled, whirling the blade between thin fingers "…and return the people to their city."

* * *

He could remember it as he stood in the freezing cold air of the roof top. The cold on his face as they hung above the burning city, the way the spires flashed with fire as the pirate frigates rained death down on the streets below. He remembered, strapped into that seat as he watched. He could remember the feeling of helplessness washing over him as the city burned, the streets lit by ultra violet light as the bombs detonated, spraying their horrific interiors across people and soldiers. He'd watched ships burn in orbit, he'd seen darkness flowing through space as stars glimmered back. He'd seen wars and battles and one breath of this new world brought a whole new feeling. One of such great nostalgia that he could feel the very air choking him.

As he took one deep breath on the top of the tower as Wrex stumbled down into the interior, not getting much grip on the stone steps. Ashley followed in typical Alliance formation, her searchlights clicking on as she entered the black, discarding her rifle for a the close quarters shotgun.

They'd told him that all of this was suicide, that there was no way he could return. But he had. That's what heroes lacked;

Consistency.

And this whole new darkness they found themselves up against;

It was a word Shepard didn't wish to use, something which'd been thrown from his mind for several years now. But now it was back, as certain as time. A thing which'd forged him from the beginning and had driven him onwards. It felt like a purpose at last but it felt like a worm burrowing at his insides.

"War" he said simply and was gone into the dark.


	19. Book 2: In a House, In a Heartbeat

_A/N Well, after a long, long, long absence Shepard's back...as are the Hyst so do be prepared for lots of running, swearing, gory deaths, fear, terror, more swearing, arguments and far too much coffee. I didn't think this story should be left unfinished, there are far too many people still interested, even after all this time and I've reached a point where its worth starting again._

_Welcome back to Dark Wings._

* * *

The empty corridors, deep beneath Alpha were alive with the flickering orbs of light as the two men cast their searchlights across the walls. They stood on the edge of a vast precipice that boiled with white clouds.

"Coolant." The aptly dubbed 'Ant' checked his omni tool as the holograph showed multiple flashes of energy. "Looks like the powercells that power this place are raised from down there."

"Scout around…see if you can find a control panel." Ghost's voice was barely audible above the rumble of machinery far below their feet. "We're heading up to the main station, right now."

"Sir. Any signs of that Alliance crew?" Ant signaled for the other to follow as they followed the precipice. Far below, tiny flashes of light which were definitely not the grav-orbs were passing back and forth, reflecting light rather then creating it. They were rapidly moving as if carrying out some designated task, moving from console to console, from bright panel to bright panel. Some were clustered around a small hole in the wall just above Ant's head, tiny beams of light playing around the exterior of the hole. It was producing smoke; the tiny beams cut the damaged layers away as the robots, like miniscule slips of metal slowly but surely close the gap.

"Why're they only mending it now? You would've thought they'd had all the time in the world to fix that blemish." Ant gestured down at the small swarm as behind him; 'Hell' grimaced and fingered the firing stud of his shotgun. He was rather uncomfortable, eying the grav-orbs that hovered above his head.

"Maybe the towers systems have been transferring all synthetic life forms to deal with the destroyed tower. It could've taken them some time to finish what repairs they could before returning here." Stylo's smooth tones echoed across a swearing Ghost's as he was abruptly cut off.

"How exactly, that tower's a wreck."

"Maybe repair the superstructure isn't the highest priority. Usually with machines they'll attempt to repair the delicate machinery which serves a purpose…perhaps getting the old systems back online. Hence the reason they've already just got around to fixing the gap…it must've been just a long way down the list of tasks they had to accomplish."

"I hate robots."

"Don't say that, they might hear you."

There was a garbled crackle before 'Ghost's' hard tones burned back through "Alright! That's enough. Focus on your objectives and please do not try to get interested in the wildlife. I had enough my plate last time one of you idiots decided to wander off."

"Alright…" 'Ant' brought his hand to up to squint into the far distance. Suspended between two sheer walls and over a gigantic precipice, a single crystalline bridge held a large holographic display. On it, multiple segments of holograph flowed and twisted, a cloud of tiny dust-motes which moved like fireflies above the small flat dish.

"Looks like a control panel. I say…Check for…ah…anything that'll raise the cells. There must be a raising mechanism or something…perhaps a grav-lift. Look for a sigil which resembles…um…perhaps… "

"Vague?"

"You heard the doctor." Ghost snapped as Ant made a face, trying to work out which piece did what.

"Looks more like a decoration then a working engineering panel."

"I do wonder how many digits the protheans had, but for arguments sake lets just say it's a tiny image of what you want to happen. Just look a little closer."

"I hate these kind of optic displays."

"Well, then you shouldn't of volunteered."

"Whatever." Ant stooped to peer at the whirling images "What're you doing?"

"Theres a door." Hell was quite a few metres away, walking along the ledge, his hand brushing along the walls as he moved. At the far end of the room, at the beginning of the precipice, was a large cog shaped door. It was heavily reinforced, multiple armored hard points secured to its surfaces. And it was a rusting, hulking chunk of metal imbedded into the wall of the facility. And above, millions upon millions of grav-orbs circled, seemingly trying to get through the wall above the door. They bobbed up and down above the door in tiny specks of glowing blue.

"What do you think's through there."

"Something important…" Hell peered closer at the door "…looks like…well, I say…nuclear bunker."

"Prothean ruin, mate, old, not nuclear…." Ant stirred the holograph with one hand an activated his omni tool. "Vault?"

There was a rumble. Suddenly, in a sudden roaring rush of noise, the lights suddenly flickered on, the white sterile space blinding both the soldiers. They cried, shielding their eyes against the sudden glaring intensity, their grubby black plates standing out in the sudden clean white which scoured all the surfaces clean.

And at the far end of the hall, the sirens sounded and the door began to rumble open.

"What did you do!" Hell yelled over the noise as Ant raised his hands, perplexed as the holograph flickered and changed, shimmering as the projector was flooding with power.

"Don't look at me! I haven't touched it!"

"Then what is it?" Hell turned as the door opened. Unlike the sterile space they stood in, the out rush of stale air seemed to dirty everything. Beyond the door, there was nothing; just darkness.

"What in hell." Hell murmured before his head came off, his blood spraying across the white walls.

* * *

Garrus jolted as the howling echoed through the empty halls. Kaiden swore as Tali pulled her Shotgun to bear. In the blinding white sterile space, the three circled, trying to draw a bead on something…anything.

"I hate that sound! What it hell is it!" Tali ducked down as they started to run, following the grimy foot prints of the single quarian VI as it walked on.

"That sounds like…" Garrus felt suddenly very cold as he remembered the things in muerta, the monsters in the dust, the Hyst. "Reavers…oh no."

A mass round impacted on the wall by Garrus's head, the small team splitting up as across the room, stooped behind a barricade, several green asari opened fire.

"Shepard!" Garrus slotted his finger into his ear as the cover blew apart, Tali skidding to a halt in the cover behind a small data display. It seemed quite durable, even though it was a delicate silver mechanical display board. "We're under fire. Looks like…" a biotic bolt shot by his head and impacted, exploding out in a spray of bright blue discharge. "…a few Asari soldiers. What are they doing here?"

"What colour is their skin?"

"What?" Garrus crackled as Shepard clamped his hand to the side of his helmet as the radio distorted. "What does skin colour have to do with any thing?"

"Just call it racism…a hunch, Garrus, a hunch…don't ask questions."

"I hate his hunches." There was a crash as a super heated bolt winnowed by, catching a grav orb as it hovered a few feet away from his head. It shattered in a spray of a white fluid, the turian raising his head up over the parapet to get a better view. He was back down in a second as his scales was nearly taken off by another stray round.

"Green! They're green! You happy now!"

"Garrus! You're bleeding!" Tali was by his side before Shepard had even responded, a small medi gel salve spreading across the wound which neatly split Garrus fringe in two.

"Right." Shepard released the bead in his ear and sunk down onto his haunches. The howling was even louder now, echoing through the corridors. Even here, Shepard could hear the slap of bare feet against the stone floor, the commander resting the rifle across his knees as he checked the omni tool.

"Signal just dropped out," Ashley remarked loudly as she let her rifle pan its way across the stairs which formed the entrance to the vast wide space the occupied. Beyond the crystal ceiling, the walls picked out with beautiful blue filigree. It glowed in the half light, reflecting the freezing cold world beyond where the storm continued to turn. It'd been silent, before the howling, the halls echoing with their footsteps as the three moved slowly, wary of every passing shadow.

Wrex rumbled as something flitted through the darkness some way off down the corridor. Already, Wrex was already feeling the smallest tug of worry somewhere in the back of his mind. That wasn't something he felt, not usually anyway. Thing is, most monsters and mercs Wrex dealt with were, well, killable. He'd shot that varren twice in Muerta and it hadn't even winced. Even the Thresher Maw had reacted to his shots and one single measly Varren had looked into his eyes and kept on going. That wasn't right, that wasn't the 'natural' order of things. Usually the natural order involved death by been chopped up into lots of little pieces.

"I thought…" Shepard began before grimacing "…so."

"Why's it so important what colour they are?"

"Nothing really." Shepard pulled himself upright "Just a thought." The mass rifle whined as its power cells whirred. For a moment, Shepard was caught in the light of the storm, his form becoming shadowy as the lights along his rifle brightened "Don't worry about it. Just make sure you shoot them in the head when you kill one. And switch to incendiary rounds, I think they'll pack a punch."

"Sir?"

"That…" Shepard raised an arm, pointing down the corridor to where the shapes flitted and twisted "…is with them. I get the feeling that if you just leave them lying there, they're going to get back up, whatever state they're in."

* * *

The firefight beneath the hundreds of grav orbs, where Tali crouched ended with several shot sharp cracks. Which usually isn't the way most firefights ended, the silence which followed seeming to get heavier. Lights, flashlights were flicking over the walls as the warble of short wave radios broke the silence, Tali finding the space in front of her face invaded by one large shotgun. It was a rather alarming specimen, coolant dripping from around the muzzle while vents built along its topside spewed an odd white smoke which curled lazily around the gauntlets of its owner.

"Get up. No smart remarks either, I don't have time for messing around."

Tali let her hand drape over the bulky handle of her shotgun. The Cerberus operative didn't even flinch, his weapon pointed directly at her head. At this range, the round would've taken her head clean off. As would her rifle but getting it up into a usable range would take longer…perhaps she'd settle with his toe instead…or most his foot, lower leg and any other appendages that got in the way. Which was a rather un-quarian thing to do.

"Get up, now."

"I'd do what he says." A rather gruff voice sounded in her ear as several large gauntlets seized her shoulders, the shotgun skidding away as Tali swore loudly. Breathing suddenly became difficult as her neck encircled by a large armour plated arm, white ceramic plates grinding against the exterior of her suit. Shields distorted, unable to cope with another shield invading its space as several more heavily armored commandos came into view.

As did the rest of the room. The once black floor ran with blood or ash, the walls splattered with a green fluid which dripped down onto the floor. Dead asari, their faces set into many different expressions of fear and pain were spread across the floor, limbs at odd angles or burned to a cinder leaving ash scattered across the floor. Most had sustained grievous head wounds, most after death seeing the lack of blood; the wounds seemingly close range with incendiary rounds leaving smoking craters.

"Let me go you Bosh'tets!" Garrus had his hands raised as did Kaiden as two burly commandos gestured for them to stand back as Tali shrieked, trying to break free. The grav orbs were shining even bright now, sinking down to follow the soldiers as they went around their tasks. Most seemed to happy with collecting samples from the fallen asari soldiers while some were inspecting the equipment. One, a much slimmer build in her black and white armour had a gauntlet resting at the base of her visor, seemingly admiring an odd wall panel while her omni tool brushed back and forth.

"Empire and Beach are dead, Sir." Ghost glanced up, wrenching his combat knife from one of the corpse's chests as one soldier tapped several sigils on his omni tool "Their life signs just dropped out and I'm reading muzzle flares along the lower corridors."

"Damn, then that means we just lost our landing zone." Ghost checked the knife before slotting it back into its pouch on his chest before resting a hand on the other's shoulder "They were good men, I'll try and make sure that Cerberus knows that. I don't care about that red tape bullshit and disclosures. And you!" Tali suddenly found herself staring through a visor. "Why in hell are you people here? Heck, why in god's name were quarians even on this planet?"

"We're alliance military." Kaiden snapped as Ghost turned, several other soldiers sprinting to guard the exit as the howling increased in volume "We are following a group of…" he gestured sarcastically knowing full well everyone in the room had an inkling of what was going on "…'terrorists' we believe are responsible for attacking a colony."

"Not alliance." Stylo said curtly as she checked her omni-tool. "SPECTRE, you're just using an alliance ship after the previous commander was inched out. Piece of alliance hardware which for some reason was given to you and not put into mass production. If I'm honest that sounds a waste of money to me."

And that was it; any conversation from that point on was drowned out as with a yell, the operatives guarding the door out opened fire. Tali was dropped as down the corridor, the grey writhing bodies of Hyst exploded from the walls, screaming as they charged. In the storm of incendiary rounds, hundreds fell, their bodies falling to pieces in a cloud of ash and fire. But behind, hundreds more followed. These were like nothing Tali had ever seen, just twisted hulks of flesh and muscle, heads replaced with tendrils that twitched in the air, arms and legs replaced by warped forms. Unrecognizable as living things, the hyst flooded the corridors, crawling along the walls or scuttling along the floor. The noise was terrible, the deafening scream of the damned as the 'things' clawed their way across the walls, the floor, some scuttling their way across the ceiling, pieces of their skin dropping away as muscle stretched and changed.

The dead Cerberus operatives were among them, their armour splitting apart to allow growths to explode forth. Ghost felt himself go cold as he shouldered his mattock rifle and opened fire, the high caliber barrel roaring into life as he tore apart the leaders of the pack, rounds specking the leader, tearing through it to shred a follow in a spray of vile green fluid. The gunfire was deafening, Tali skidding free from her captor as she reached for her discarded shotgun. The others were moving too, pushing past the operatives as they rushed to join the firefight.

"Fall back!" Ghost roared over the noise as the front few fell back, their rifles overheating. "Retreat! We can't hold them here!"

"Drav'it!" Paranoid skidded backwards as a claw sliced past, disemboweling one of the others. The wounded soldier fell, screaming in pain as he was dragged away into the slavering jaws of the Hyst. He didn't last long, Ghost shielding his eyes as the still breathing man was brutally ripped apart. The horde, in their hundreds were pretty much in a bottle neck but seeing how they crawling over the bodies of their fallen, it wasn't an advantage. It was more like staring into hell itself…not even Elysium, matched this.

"Run!" His shout echoed through the halls as Tali turned to see the soldiers breaking formation, scattering as behind the horde broke through the wide open entrance. More fell, operatives been dragged away to be ripped to shreds. Panic was all Tali saw and felt, staggering backwards. She caught her foot, the ceiling roaring past her head as she fell, hands scrabbling for purchase. Kaiden caught her, dragging her after him as he ran, Garrus swearing as he turned, opening fire. Hyst fell but without the incendiary rounds the operatives were using, they were rising up onto their feet moments later.

"Its not working...then how are we supposed to stop them..." Garrus breathed as Tali was pulled upright, glancing down to where the old Quarian VI lay, scattered in a pool of white fluid. They hadn't spotted the fallen synthetic when they'd entered the room, but there it was, its breast plate punctured with multiple holes. It was still gargling as Garrus stooped down to its side, hands clawing. It was staring up into the circling grav-orbs high above its head, seemingly mesmerized by the movement. There was no way he could do anything, no data ports from where he could take any data. However many geth he'd killed, Garrus felt a slight sense of loss as the VI whirred and clicked. He didn't want to give up…no…Garrus's eyes narrowed as one by one the operatives fell back, the passageway becoming busy as more and more soldiers ran passed. He wasn't going to give up.

It was a mad sprinting gun fight from there through the twisting corridors. Staircase after staircase passed by as Tali, her legs burning staggered to a halt. Behind, the Cerberus operatives were still engaged in heavy fighting, hunkering down at the base of old columns. Not that it helped, the screech of the Hyst was still ringing down the corridors and the swarmed the barricades, claws tearing across the floor, smashing the soldiers apart as Hyst exploded into smoking piles of flesh as rounds cut them to pieces. They didn't stop, one blow tearing a man in half. He fell away gargling, flopping around on the floor as his brain fired a few last times.

"Highly adaptive lifeform," Stylo dragged Ghost upright as he fell, swearing as he dropped his rifle. It snagged, held in place by a cord around his wrist. He caught it in the first swing, as he checked his omni tool. A map flashed by, but it was incomplete, parts missing. From this point, it was all guesswork. "I've read files but this is…this is…"

"Science rarely is." The rifle whirred as it reacted to his touch, Ghost checking down the sight, into the corridor behind.

"I'm so sorry about you men."

"Its nothing," Ghost snapped, "They were all mercs, hired guns. Paranoid and you are pretty much the only people I can trust at the moment." He grimaced behind the visor, checking his rifle as ahead Paranoid activated his omni tool.

"Theres a door ahead!" Paranoid's nasaly voice echoed across the intercom just as one of the other merc's died a horrible death. "Fegging thing's locked."

"Right," Ghost groaned as Stylo rushed on ahead, her knowledge of the prothean systems better then anyone else's "We're so screwed."

* * *

Through the ice and snow, the freezing biting air, the amphitheatre was alive with hundreds of blue flecks of light, the energy whirling as Eve, her grey cloth floating around her form raised her hands, the lights flashing on her finger tips. Beyond the walls, out into the open sky, the centuries old machinery were pouring power along the towers. Across the planet, through out the snowy plains and beneath the snowy mountains, chasms were exploding from the snow as plates rose up to let the fuel lines to vent. Across the world, machines roared into life as glaciers shook, splitting to reveal black rock beneath, the remains of ancient buildings smashing through the ice.

Lightning flashed as the spines of old satellite arrays rose up into the clouds, the entire storm system shifting as it adjust to let the city beneath the ice break through. Streets, empty of everything but snow were beginning to pick their way across the ice fields, hundreds of empty houses and thoroughfares breaking apart entire mountains.

"What in hell!" Joker yanked hard on his harness, locking it into place as the entire craft pitched down in a cacophony of sirens and alarms. The Normandy pitched down as in a roaring, screaming air, the walls of black rock and angular metal burst through, knocking aside entire mountains.

"The entire planet is reacting to something!" Wynne snapped, bracing himself against one of the walls as the blue interior lighting snapped off to be replaced by the ominous crimson warning lights.

"No one sent a memo about this!" Ground whipped by below as the Normandy spun out of control.

"What in hell is that whining noise!"

"That's the proximity alarm." Joker slotted his finger into one of the holograms and silenced the buzzer as several more turned on. "And that's the capacitor telling me that the engine's on fire."

"Oh how terribly droll. Have I ever told you I hate flying?"

"Gotta love it…" The craft pitched up as blue sky whipped by. Wynne caught sight of stars through the blue before they were back into the cloud, the ship skimming the white ground. Ahead, the ground the was breaking apart, lumps of ice twice the size of the Normandy plunging down back into the snow as a wall, several hundred metres wide broke through, rising up into the sky. "Now hold on."

"I guess this is what you pilots refer to as 'getting a bit hairy then'?" The Normandy twisted to one side, its left wing tip skimming the snow below which was quickly becoming a blizzard. The deck plates were groaning now, the entire ship juddering as the engines flared, Adams applying the capacitors once again to negotiate the burn-through as the core flared.

"Up hill both ways." Joker muttered through gritted teeth as the wall continued to rise up; the noise of groaning deck plates and overstressed metal work was blocked out by the noise outside. An entire city was coming together outside and it was threatening to take the Normandy with it. Wynne glanced across, his own fingers laced around the seat's arm rests to see Joker, his face unbelievably pale, leaning close up to the monitor.

There was a crump as wing caught black rock, sending the ship spinning. White and black rushed by as the consoles went red. Wynne, pressed back into his seat as they spun, the craft getting closer and closer to the frozen ground. And all he was aware of in the spinning crimson illuminated hell was the quiet prayer behind his head as one of the technicians had her head against her hands, whispering into her fingers. Wynne turned back, shaking his head as Joker ground his teeth, pressed into the side of his seat as the G-Force set the skin rippling across his cheeks.

"If I die Joker, I'm going to kill you."

* * *

The locked door in question was a thick bulkhead which sat at the far end of a long, brightly lit corridor. At least a foot thick, the door seemed to be still following some past instruction as across the entrance console the symbol of quarantine was still revolving.

"The lock mechanism is quarian make," Tali adjusted her omni tool as Kaiden checked his pistol. "Looks like they tried to seal the door perhaps, from the other side or maybe its some old subroutine, perhaps the entire facility shut down."

**Population; One million. **Seven Five Seven gargled, hung across Garrus's back held in place with several straps of webbing. Its head piece was laid across his right shoulder, optics whirring painfully as its internal parts struggled to work. **And increasing. **

"How in hell is it increasing?" Kaiden snapped, spotting three of the Cerberus troopers rise into view. Behind them, the howls of the Hyst were still echoing through the halls, the scrabble of nails and claws against the stone floor getting even louder.

**Activation of Menith Station led relaxing of quarantine measures put in place by Subject; Prothean. Data records retrieved from Vortex Station by Fleet Science Team signature pattern sigma shows that previous inhabitants of the city were sealed beneath the city streets. This course of action was not due to threat from 'Reapers'. **

"Damn." Kaiden breathed as Stylo pushed by, not even bothering to stop her.

**In detectable range, population numbers one million. Further scans show that catacombs are extensive and the possibility that population is higher the first estimate is 99.9999999% with 9 recurring. **

"Get that door open now!" The Hyst were now a gigantic horde at the end of the corridor now, the leaders sprinting out ahead as their legs lengthened, muscles distorting to let their already loping gait lengthen. Ghost stood waiting, his rifle glowing a bright red as he fired, swearing into the faces of the 'things' that tried to tear him limb from limb.

"Charlie!" Stylo could be heard yelling over the intercom as the squad leader slowly began to walk-backwards, the horde clambering over the bodies of their dead. Jaws distended as mouths within the chests of what had once been Protheans adapted to suit the food they were about to tear apart.

"I'm not one for desperate last stands and noble sacrifices. Don't worry!" Charlie took a few steps back as one tentacle nearly took his leg off. Paranoid swore behind as he tossed a grenade, the incendiary tearing a hole in the crowd. "Argh! Get back ye bastards!"

Tali dragged her omni tool over the surface of the old locking mechanism, the console toning as it rejected the hologram's demands. She tried again, feeling the omni tool fizzing around her fingers as the machine rejected her attempts once again. She swore, wrenching the casing away from the console in a cloud of sparks and wires, holograms flashing by her fingers as the haptic display built into the lock malfunctioned. Blue wire, red wire, black wire…pink wire? Tali threaded each wire through her fingers, taking her time. Like each time she took apart some machine in the heat of battle, time slowed, existence pausing. It was easy to see the desperation written across Kaiden's face, the human's face lined and fatigued. And the others, Garrus crouched just behind her, the rifle firing in slow motion, rounds hanging in air as they spiraled away. The leader, the Cerberus operative was retreating, even slower now, each step agonizing to watch. The one who'd rushed ahead was silent mouthing words, swearing and gesturing at the panel.

Tali didn't react as she was pushed aside, Stylo taking over. There, in the middle of the horde stood a quarian. It's suit was ruptured, face plate fallen away to reveal a warped mess of flesh. But it was still recognizable in that enviroment; three grotesque fingers clawing for her…clawing for them the suddenly delicate humans crouched at the end of the corridor. With Shepard, she'd almost felt unbeatable, he'd always had a way of escaping. Here, it all seemed hopeless.

"Its all fried! Most the wiring is fused with a main circuit board! I can't get a signal from any of the components!" Stylo waved several severed wires as she withdrew her hand from the console. "Its no use!"

Ghost didn't respond, instead Tali was pushed aside with a yell, he smashed the butt of his gun into the console. That did the trick as with a screeched of tortured metal, the door shot open.

"Everyone inside! Now!" The leader of the horde staggered, falling forward on severed legs, the others smashing it aside as they pushed on. Claws scratched the stone surface, centimeters from Ghost's feet as he fell back, sliding across the door seal as Paranoid yelled, grabbing the larger man's webbing. Tali rolled inside as Kaiden stooped in the dark on the other side, opening fire as he did his skull like faceplate reflecting the blue muzzle fire. Stylo held the other side, her head down, an identical haptic display in pieces between her fingers as she checked for anyway to close the door. A grenade bounced, frozen in air for a second before it ignited filling Tali's vision with hundreds of after-images.

The leaders burned, breaking apart in hundreds of blackened fragments before they were pushed aside. Those behind recoiled at the fire, their skins exploding with hundreds of black lines which spreading rapidly beneath the surface. Muscles formed, skin thickening as the group bulked out, expanding. The flame was dripping off them now, layers of skin breaking apart as rounds tore through their hides. But they now weren't stopping, even if they were slow, lumbering as their newly repaired skin slowed the burn, buying them time.

And they were chanting, distended jaws slapping together as each inflection was spat out in a cloud of green fluid.

_**Legacy Legacy Legacy Legacy Legacy Legacy Legacy**_

And with a hundred agonized voices the horde screamed as with a bang, the circuits holding the door open gave out and with a crash, the bulkhead slammed shut.


End file.
